Shameless

That irreverent scoundrel grinned as he passed \
And perhaps we did look silly !
As I on you those sheep's-eyes cast,
Which you cast back willy-nilly :

While both my hands patted your dear little hand,
As if in a fit of abstraction ;
And you let it lie at their command,
Quite unaware of the action !

A deaf mute, say, for the first time sees
A youth and a damsel dancing,
With their bows, twirls, shuffles, and one-two-threes,
Retreating and advancing.

He hears not the music, he finds no cause
For such bewildering antic ;
He thinks the poor creatures obey no laws,
But are certainly daft or frantic.

So one who has felt not the love which rules
And stirs, the harmonious passion,
Must deem us lovers demented fools
To act in so queer a fashion.

I have heard that this theme in the assonant rhyme
Has been sung with a beauty entrancing :
The Spaniards have ever been sublime
In passionate love and dancing.