Even the bawds of euphony

Would cry out sharply.

XI

He rode over Connecticut

In a glass coach.

Once, a fear pierced him,

In that he mistook

The shadow of his equipage

For blackbirds.

XII

The river is moving.

The blackbird must be flying.

XIII

It was evening all afternoon.

It was snowing

And it was going to snow.

The blackbird sat

In the cedar-limbs.

The Plot against the Giant

First Girl

When this yokel comes maundering,

Whetting his hacker,

I shall run before him,

Diffusing the civilest odors

Out of geraniums and unsmelled flowers.

It will check him.

Second Girl

I shall run before him,

Arching cloths besprinkled with colors

As small as fish-eggs.

The threads

Will abash him.

Third Girl

Oh, la … le pauvre!

I shall run before him,

With a curious puffing.

He will bend his ear then.

I shall whisper

Heavenly labials in a world of gutturals.

It will undo him.

Gray Room

Although you sit in a room that is gray,

Except for the silver

Of the straw-paper,

And pick

At your pale white gown;

Or lift one of the green beads

Of your necklace,

To let it fall;

Or gaze at your green fan

Printed with the red branches of a red willow;

Or, with one finger,

Move the leaf in the bowl—

The leaf that has fallen from the branches of the forsythia

Beside you …

What is all this?

I know how furiously your heart is beating.

Bowl, Cat and Broomstick

Two figures sit in the circle of a spotlight, on a white bench, before a golden curtain. The rest of the stage is obscure. Their shadows are strongly reflected on the curtain. One, at the right, wears a gown falling below his knees. It is black covered with a faded silver pattern. Flat hat. Jewel in the hat. Black stockings. Small silver buckles on his shoes. He is gaunt. He is reading aloud from a book which is bound in yellow paper, like a French book. The other figure is smaller and more supple. Tight green costume. He is listening closely. The floor of the stage has a violet covering.

BOWL (With finical importance): She says — m — m — she says — m. (Patronizing Cat) I shall continue to translate this for you. Fleurs — des fleurs — full of flowers — full of tawny flowers —

CAT (A little bored): Tawny? What is the word for tawny?

BOWL: Rouges.

CAT: But, Bowl, rouges means red.

BOWL (Coolly): No doubt, when it refers to something red. But when, as here, it refers to something tawny, then it means tawny.

Broomstick saunters on the stage at the left. Heavily built. Hard-looking. Elderly. He uses a stick. Blue blouse, red sash, white trousers, like a French peasant. Bowl studies his book. Cat is interested in Broomstick’s appearance.

BROOMSTICK (Brusquely): Bibliophiles!

CAT (Very politely): Bowl is reading from the poems of Claire Dupray.

BROOMSTICK: Charming!

He seats himself on the bench.