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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE GYPSY GIRL by RALPH HODGSON

Poet Analysis

First Line: COME, TRY YOUR SKILL, KIND GENTLEMEN
Last Line: THE DARKNESS OF HER EYES!
Subject(s): GYPSIES; GIPSIES;

'Come, try your skill, kind gentlemen,
A penny for three tries!'
Some threw and lost, some threw and won
A ten-a-penny prize.

She was a tawny gipsy girl,
A girl of twenty years,
I liked her for the lumps of Id
That jingled from her ears;

I liked the flaring yellow scarf
Bound loose about her throat,
I liked her showy purple gown
And flashy velvet coat.

A man came up, too loose of tongue,
And said no good to her;
She did not blush as Saxons do,
Or turn upon the cur;

She fawned and whined 'Sweet gentleman,
A penny for three tries!'
—But oh, the den of wild things in
The darkness of her eyes!



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