Humouresque
Humouresque
Original Text
A. J. M. Smith, The Complete Poems, ed. Brian Trehearne
(London, Ontario: Canadian Poetry Press, 2007): 176.
1He
2Had always
3Been a lucky one:
4The girl he loved
5Refused him, so he always
6Kept her fresh-eyed beauty
7Safe from ravagings of Time,
8And lived with her in one close
9Corner of his brain, and kissed her lips,
10And pale white hands, and dreamy hair.
11The man she married saw her dreamy hair
12Become a night-mare, and her red lips
13Crack, and white hands coarsen. Close
14Though he held her, thieving Time
15Crept in and stole her beauty,
16And after that stole love.
17And yet her husband knew
18That Time compounded
19Interest on her
20Wealth. He, too,
21Had always been
22A lucky
23One.
Notes
1] Humouresque: a capricious, comic work. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1923
Publication Notes
The McGill Daily
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire / Sharine Leung
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
Special Copyright
Copyright © the estate of A.J.M. Smith. Included
with the generous permission of William Toye, his literary executor.