Kicking my heels in the street, Here at the edge of the pavement I wait, and my feet Paw at the ground like the horses' hoofs in the street. Under the archway sheer, Sudden and black as a hole in the placarded wall, Faces flicker and veer, Wavering out of the darkness into the light, Wavering back into night; Under the archway, suddenly seen, the curls And thin, bright faces of girls, Roving eyes, and smiling lips, and the glance Seeking, finding perchance, Here at the edge of the pavement, there by the wall, One face, out of them all. Steadily, face after face, Cheeks with the blush of the paint yet lingering, eyes Still with their circle of black . . . But hers, but hers? Rose-leaf cheeks, and flower-soft lips, and the grace Of the vanishing Spring come back, And a child's heart blithe in the sudden and sweet surprise, Subtly expectant, that stirs In the smile of her heart to my heart, of her eyes to my eyes. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON A YOUNG LADY'S SIXTH ANNIVERSARY by KATHERINE MANSFIELD FROLIC by GEORGE WILLIAM RUSSELL FARM-YARD SONG by JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE THE ASSUMPTION by JOHN BEAUMONT IN A ROSE GARDEN by JOHN BENNETT (1865-1956) THE LAST REVIEW by EMILY J. BUGBEE THE WANDERER: 5. IN HOLLAND: MYSTERY by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |