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...STANZAS IN MEMORY OF THE AUTHOR OF OBERMANN by MATTHEW ARNOLD MORTAL COMBAT by MARY ELIZABETH COLERIDGE HERO TO LEANDER by ALFRED TENNYSON KEEPING ENDLESS HOLIDAY by TITUS PETRONIUS NIGER THE ETERNAL JUSTICE by ANNE REEVE ALDRICH LILIES: 4. BLOSSOMS ABOVE A TOMB by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) THE LAST MAN: RAIN by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES |