I KNOW not of what we ponder’d
Or made pretty pretence to talk,
As, her hand within mine, we wander’d
Tow’rd the pool by the lime-tree walk,
While the dew fell in showers from the passion flowers
And the blush-rose bent on her stalk.
I cannot recall her figure:
Was it regal as Juno’s own?
Or only a trifle bigger
Than the elves who surround the throne
Of the Fa?ry Queen, and are seen, I ween,
By mortals in dreams alone?
What her eyes were like I know not:
Perhaps they were blurr’d with tears;
And perhaps in you skies there glow not
(On the contrary) clearer spheres.
No! as to her eyes I am just as wise
As you or the cat, my dears.
Her teeth, I presume, were “pearly:”
But which was she, brunette or blonde?
Her hair, was it quaintly curly,
Or as straight as a beadle’s wand?
That I fail’d to remark: it was rather dark
And shadowy round the pond.
Then the hand that repos’d so snugly
In mine,-was it plump or spare?
Was the countenance fair or ugly?
Nay, children, you have me there!
My eyes were p’haps blurr’d; and besides I ‘d heard
That it ‘s horribly rude to stare.
And I,-was I brusque and surly?
Or oppressively bland and fond?
Was I partial to rising early?
Or why did we twain abscond,
When nobody knew, from the public view
To prowl by a misty pond?
What pass’d, what was felt or spoken,-
Whether anything pass’d at all,-
And whether the heart was broken
That beat under that shelt’ring shawl,-
(If shawl she had on, which I doubt),-has gone,
Yes, gone from me past recall.
Was I haply the lady’s suitor?
Or her uncle? I can’t make out;
Ask your governess, dears, or tutor.
For myself, I ‘m in hopeless doubt
As to why we were there, who on earth we were,
And what this is all about.
(Charles Stuart Calverley)
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Based on Topics: Dreams Poems, Kings & Queens Poems, Hair Poems, Children Poems, Romantic Love Poems, Passion Poems, Cats PoemsBased on Keywords: haps, blurr, tutor, shelt, quaintly, snugly, repos, brunette, lime-tree, beadle, brusque