THEY sit and smoke on the esplanade, The man and his friend, and regard the bay Where the far chalk cliffs, to the left displayed, Smile sallowly in the decline of day. And saunterers pass with laugh and jest - A handsome couple among the rest. 'That smart proud pair,' says the man to his friend, 'Are to marry next week.... How little he thinks That dozens of days and nights on end I have stroked her neck, unhooked the links Of her sleeve to get at her upper arm.... Well, bliss is in ignorance: what's the harm!' | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SUMMER DAYS by WATHEN MARK WILKS CALL THE WEST COUNTRY by ALICE CARY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW; IN MEMORIAM by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON A SNOW-STORM; SCENE IN A VERMONT WINTER by CHARLES GAMAGE EASTMAN MY NOVEMBER GUEST by ROBERT FROST ART ABOVE NATURE: TO JULIA by ROBERT HERRICK ROBINSON CRUSOE by MOTHER GOOSE A GENTLE ECHO ON WOMAN (IN THE DORIC MANNER) by JONATHAN SWIFT |