Until The Curtain

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="11f285a1erlcgo.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Berton Braley Cyber Museum</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Berton Braley Cyber Museum"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>     </B></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFCC66" TEXT="#080000" background="11ed2c00dkelyh.png"> <div> <A HREF="news_.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News"><U>News</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="biography.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Biography"><U>Biography</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="works.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Works"><U>Works</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="bibliography.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bibliography"><U>Bibliography</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="correspondence.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Correspondence"><U>Correspondence</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="library.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Library"><U>Library</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="meeting_place.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Meeting place"><U>Meeting place</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guestbook.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Guestbook"><U>Guestbook</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="market.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Market"><U>Market</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="links.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links "><U>Links </U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="search.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Search"><U>Search</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id400.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Foundation"><U>About Foundation</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="about_museum.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Museum"><U>About Museum</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I>Until The Curtain</I><I>                                                                                                   </I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>We talk about the actor's life </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>In terms we can't make harsh enough. </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Dilate upon its petty strife </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>It's woe and worry, blague and bluff; </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>We speak of its uncertain wage </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>From long experience we cry </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>"What fools we were to choose the Stage," </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>But we don't quit it till we die! </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>At one night stands we roundly rave </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>At dressing rooms, at poor hotels, </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Each one of us, we say, is slave </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>To managers; within us wells </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Hot anger at a thousand things </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Which set our temperaments awry. </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Thus at the Stage we make our flings, </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>And never quit it till we die. </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Oh, we look forward to the day </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>When, with a little laid aside, </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>We shall be done with every play </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>And have a home, and there abide; </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>But when we've bought a cosy shack </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Where managers shall not come nigh, </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>Somehow the old Stage calls us back, </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>And we don't quit it till we die. </B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>For all our talk, they're in our blood -- </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>The scenes and flies the stage-hands shunt, </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>The magic of the calcium flood </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>The upturned faces out in front, </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>The everlasting game with chance </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>That makes the actor's heart beat high; </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>The Stage -- gripped by its strange romance. </B></I></div> <div> <I><B>We shall not quit it till we die! </B></I></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <I>Published in: </I><A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Judge"><U><I>Judge - November 12, 1920</I></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>NOTE</B>: Special thanks to John Martin at <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><U>http://www.alief.com/andmore</U></FONT> </div> <div> who provides this poem free of charge.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="copyright.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Copyright"><U><I>© 2000-2006, Berton Braley Cyber Museum. </I></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="copyright.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Copyright"><U><I>All rights reserved.</I></U></A></div> <div> <I>---</I></div> <div> <A HREF="mailto:info@bertonbraley.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@bertonbraley.com"><U><I>Contact Webmaster Peter Leeflang</I></U></A><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="mailto:info@bertonbraley.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:info@bertonbraley.com"><U> </U></A></FONT></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>