Classic Poem

" Isn't it quaint, " he turned and said to me,
" To watch these village people at the fair? "
But I had seen too often what was there;
I shrugged impatience at his sympathy
I was a child again, and Mrs. Lee
And other members of The Ladies' Aid
At tables on the lawn, a meek parade,
Were serving cakes and glasses of iced-tea.

I hated this weak pomp of charity,
This pauper feast to aid the stricken poor.
I watched these too-thin ladies seek their door
In sweetly pious insincerity;
Holding themselves so righteously alone,
Turning their Christian backs on Mrs. Cohn.