 | The Poetical Works of Robert Browning |  |
168
RESPECTABILITY.
I
Dear, had the world in its capriceDeigned to proclaim “I know you both,
“Have recognized your plighted troth,
“Am sponsor for you: live in peace!”—
How many precious months and years
Of youth had passed, that speed so fast,
Before we found it out at last,
The world, and what it fears?
II
How much of priceless life were spentWith men that every virtue decks,
And women models of their sex,
Society's true ornament,—
Ere we dared wander, nights like this,
Thro' wind and rain, and watch the Seine,
And feel the Boulevart break again
To warmth and light and bliss?
169
III
I know! the world proscribes not love;Allows my finger to caress
Your lips' contour and downiness,
Provided it supply a glove.
The world's good word!—the Institute!
Guizot receives Montalembert!
Eh? Down the court three lampions flare:
Put forward your best foot!
| The Poetical Works of Robert Browning | |