Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE FLATHOUSE ROOF, by NATHALIA CRANE



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE FLATHOUSE ROOF, by                    
First Line: I linger on the flathouse roof, the moonlight is divine
Last Line: That my heart is all a-flutter, like the washing on the line?
Subject(s): Love


I LINGER on the flathouse roof, the moonlight is divine.
But my heart is all a-flutter like the washing on the line.

I long to be a heroine, I long to be serene,
But my feet, they dance in answer to a distant tambourine.

And, oh! the dreams of ecstasy. Oh! Babylon and Troy!
I've a hero in the basement, he's the janitor's red-haired boy.

There's the music of his mallet and the jigging of his saw;
I wonder what he's making on that lovely cellar floor?

He loves me, for he said it when we met upon the stair,
And that is why I'm on the roof to get a breath of air.

He said it! Oh! He said it! And the only thing I said
Was, "Roger Jones, I like you, for your hair is very red."

We parted when intruders came a-tramping through the hall;
He's got my pocket handkerchief and I have got his ball.

And so it is I'm on the roof. Oh! Babylon and Troy!
I'm very sure that I'm in love with someone else's boy.

Alone, upon the starry heights, I'm dancing on a green,
To the jingling and the jangling of a distant tambourine,

To the stamping of a hammer and the jigging of a saw,
And the secret sort of feeling I'm in love forever more.

Do you think it's any wonder, with the moonlight so divine,
That my heart is all a-flutter, like the washing on the line?





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