 | Poems 1918-21 : |  |
48
VII. VII
I Vecchii
THEY will come no more,
The old men with beautiful manners.
The old men with beautiful manners.
Il était comme un tout petit garçon
With his blouse full of apples
And sticking out all the way round;
Blagueur! "Con gli occhi onesti e tardi,"
With his blouse full of apples
And sticking out all the way round;
Blagueur! "Con gli occhi onesti e tardi,"
And he said:
"Oh! Abelard," as if the topic
Were much too abstruse for his comprehension,
And he talked about "the Great Mary,"
And said: "Mr. Pound is shocked at my levity,"
When it turned out he meant Mrs. Ward.
"Oh! Abelard," as if the topic
Were much too abstruse for his comprehension,
And he talked about "the Great Mary,"
And said: "Mr. Pound is shocked at my levity,"
When it turned out he meant Mrs. Ward.
And the other was rather like my bust by Gaudier,
Or like a real Texas colonel,
He said: "Why flay dead horses?
"There was once a man called Voltaire."
Or like a real Texas colonel,
He said: "Why flay dead horses?
"There was once a man called Voltaire."
And he said they used to cheer Verdi,
In Rome, after the opera,
And the guards couldn't stop them,
In Rome, after the opera,
And the guards couldn't stop them,
And that was an anagram for Vittorio
Emanuele Re D' Italia,
And the guards couldn't stop them.
Emanuele Re D' Italia,
And the guards couldn't stop them.
Old men with beautiful manners,
Sitting in the Row of a morning;
Walking on the Chelsea Embankment.
Sitting in the Row of a morning;
Walking on the Chelsea Embankment.
| Poems 1918-21 : | |