Love

Smiles

by W. H. Davies 1871–1940

From Foliage (1913)

LoveNature

I saw a black girl once,
As black as winter's night;
Till through her parted lips
There came a flood of light;
It was the milky way
Across her face so black:
Her two lips closed again,
And night came back.

I see a maiden now,
Fair as a summer's day;
Yet through her parted lips
I see the milky way;
It makes the broad daylight
In summer time look black:
Her two lips close again,
And night comes back.

✦ ✦ ✦

A black girl as black as night opens her lips and a flood of light, the Milky Way, crosses her face; the second stanza turns the image on a fair maiden whose smile makes broad daylight look black.

MLA

Davies, W. H. “Smiles.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/davies_wh/12/.

Chicago

Davies, W. H. “Smiles.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/davies_wh/12/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

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