Слике страница
PDF
ePub

Y 0 U Ꭲ Ꮋ AND Ꭺ Ꭱ Ꭲ .

YOUTH AND ART.

1.

Ir once might have been, once only:
We lodged in a street together,
You, a sparrow on the housetop lonely,
I, a lone she-bird of his feather.

2.

Your trade was with sticks and clay,

You thumbed, thrust, patted, and polished,

Then laughed, "They will see some day

Smith made, and Gibson demolished."

3.

My business was song, song, song;

I chirped, cheeped, trilled, and twittered, "Kate Brown's on the boards erelong,

And Grisi's existence embittered!"

4.

I earned no more by a warble

Than you by a sketch in plaster; You wanted a piece of marble,

I needed a music-master.

5.

We studied hard in our styles,

Chipped each at a crust like Hindoos,

For air, looked out on the tiles,

For fun, watched each other's windows.

6.

You lounged, like a boy of the South,
Cap and blouse - nay, a bit of beard too;

Or you got it, rubbing your mouth

With fingers the clay adhered to.

7.

And I soon managed to find

Weak points in the flower-fence facing,

Was forced to put up a blind

And be safe in my corset-lacing.

8.

No harm! It was not my fault

If

you never turned your eyes' tail up,

As I shook upon E in alt.,

Or ran the chromatic scale up:

9.

For spring bade the sparrows pair,
And the boys and girls gave guesses,

And stalls in our street looked rare

With bulrush and watercresses.

10.

Why did not you pinch a flower
In a pellet of clay and fling it?
Why did not I put a power

Of thanks in a look, or sing it?

11.

I did look, sharp as a lynx,

(And yet the memory rankles,)

When models arrived, some minx

Tripped up-stairs, she and her ankles.

« ПретходнаНастави »