by Robert Penn Warren

    In silence the heart raves¹.  It utters words

    Meaningless， that never had

    A meaning.  I was ten， skinny， red-headed，

    Freckled².  In a big black Buick，

    Driven by a big grown boy， with a necktie， she sat

    In front of the drugstore， sipping³ something

    Through a straw. There is nothing like

    Beauty. It stops your heart.  It

    Thickens your blood.  It stops your breath.  It

    Makes you feel dirty.  You need a hot bath.

    I leaned against a telephone pole， and watched.

    I thought I would die if she saw me.

    How could I exist in the same world with that brightness？

    Two years later she smiled at me.  She

    Named my name. I thought I would wake up dead.

    Her grown brothers walked with the bent-knee

    Swagger of horsemen.  They were slick-faced.

    Told jokes in the barbershop. Did no work.

    Their father was what is called a drunkard.

    Whatever he was he stayed on the third floor

    Of the big white farmhouse⁴ under the maples⁵ for twenty-five years.

    He never came down.  They brought everything up to him.

    I did not know what a mortgage was.

    His wife was a good， Christian⁶ woman， and prayed.

    When the daughter got married， the old man came down wearing

    An old tail coat， the pleated shirt yellowing.

    The sons propped⁷ him.  I saw the wedding.  There were

    Engraved⁸ invitations， it was so fashionable.  I thought

    I would cry.  I lay in bed that night

    And wondered if she would cry when something was done to her.

    The mortgage was foreclosed. That last word was whispered.

    She never came back.  The family

    Sort of drifted off.  Nobody wears shiny boots like that now.

    But I know she is beautiful forever， and lives

    In a beautiful house， far away.

    She called my name once.  I didn't even know she knew it.

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