Collected poems, 1901-1918/Mercutio

by Walter De la Mare

MERCUTIO

ALONG an avenue of almond-trees
Came three girls chattering of their sweethearts three.
And lo! Merculio, with Byronic ease,
Out of his philosophic eye cast all
A mere flowered twig of thought, whereat —
Three hearts fell still as when an air dies out
And Venus falters lonely o'er the sea.
But when within the further mist of hloom
His step and form were hid, the smooth child Ann
Said, "La, and what eyes he had!" and Lucy said,
"How sad a gentleman!" and Katherine,
"I wonder, now, what mischief he was at."
And these three also April hid away,
Leaving the Spring faint with Mercutio.