Poems (Mansfield)/Villa Pauline
POEMS AT THE VILLA PAULINE
1916
VILLA PAULINE
But, ah! before he cameYou were only a name:Four little rooms and a cupboardWithout a bone,And I was alone!Now with your windows wideEverything from outsideOf sun and flower and lovelinessComes in to hide,To play, to laugh on the stairs,To catch unawaresOur childish happiness,And to glideThrough the four little rooms on tip-toeWith lifted finger,Pretending we shall not knowWhen the shutters are shutThat they still lingerLong, long after. Lying close in the darkHe says to me: "Hark,Isn't that laughter?" 1916