Living

The Re-echo Club: as by William Wordsworth (Cubist Nude, Second Attempt)

by Carolyn Wells 1862–1942

From The Re-echo Club

Living

She was a phantom of a fright
When first she burst upon my sight;
A Cubist apparition meant
To symbolize a Nude's descent.
Her eyes like soft-shell crabs aflare
Like loads of brick her dusky hair;
And all things else about her drawn
As by one coming home at dawn.
A fearsome shape, an image fierce,
To haunt, to startle, and to pierce.
I saw her upon nearer view,
Like a symbolic oyster stew;
A countenance in which did meet
The paving blocks from some old street;
The staircase, floating fancy-free,
With steps of Cubic liberty.
A perfect lady, nobly built,
Constructed like a crazy quilt.
Or a volcano on a spree,
Or herd of elephants at tea.
The staircase, by a bombshell wrecked,
With something of a burst effect.

✦ ✦ ✦

A parody by Carolyn Wells, written in the manner of William Wordsworth as a contribution to the imagined Re-Echo Club (Cubist Nude).

MLA

Wells, Carolyn. “The Re-echo Club: as by William Wordsworth (Cubist Nude, Second Attempt).” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/wells_c/322/.

Chicago

Wells, Carolyn. “The Re-echo Club: as by William Wordsworth (Cubist Nude, Second Attempt).” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/wells_c/322/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Carolyn Wells