A flawless cup: how delicate and fine
The flowing curve of every jewelled line!
Look, turn it up or down, ’tis perfect still—
But holds no drop of life’s heart-warming wine.
Public-domain source text
The Empty Quatrain
by Henry van Dyke Jr.
From Standard Ebooks · standardebooks/henry-van-dyke-jr_poetry
Source record
This is a source transcription from Standard Ebooks, published in Past Poetry’s public-domain archive without line-by-line editorial notes. Public-domain source edition. Availability can vary by territory.
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