| Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935). Collected Poems. 1921. |
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| II. The Children of the Night |
| 19. Aaron Stark |
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| WITHAL a meagre man was Aaron Stark, | |
| Cursed and unkempt, shrewd, shrivelled, and morose. | |
| A miser was he, with a miser’s nose, | |
| And eyes like little dollars in the dark. | |
| His thin, pinched mouth was nothing but a mark; | 5 |
| And when he spoke there came like sullen blows | |
| Through scattered fangs a few snarled words and close, | |
| As if a cur were chary of its bark. | |
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| Glad for the murmur of his hard renown, | |
| Year after year he shambled through the town, | 10 |
| A loveless exile moving with a staff; | |
| And oftentimes there crept into his ears | |
| A sound of alien pity, touched with tears,— | |
| And then (and only then) did Aaron laugh. | |
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