“WHY DID I SKETCH”...

“WHY DID I SKETCH”

Why did I sketch an upland green,

And put the figure in

Of one on the spot with me? -

For now that one has ceased to be seen

The picture waxes akin

To a wordless irony.

If you go drawing on down or cliff

Let no soft curves intrude

Of a woman's silhouette,

But show the escarpments stark and stiff

As in utter solitude;

So shall you half forget.

Let me sooner pass from sight of the sky

Than again on a thoughtless day

Limn, laugh, and sing, and rhyme

With a woman sitting near, whom I

Paint in for love, and who may

Be called hence in my time!