Daily I listen to wonder and woe, <br />Nightly I hearken to knave or to ace, <br />Telling me stories of lava and snow, <br />Delicate fables of ribbon and lace, <br />Tales of the quarry, the kill, the chase, <br />Longer than heaven and duller than hell- <br />Never you blame me, who cry my case: <br />"Poets alone should kiss and tell!" <br /> <br />Dumbly I hear what I never should know, <br />Gently I counsel of pride and of grace; <br />Into minutiae gayly they go, <br />Telling the name and the time and the place. <br />Cede them your silence and grant them space- <br />Who tenders an inch shall be raped of an ell! <br />Sympathy's ever the boaster's brace; <br />Poets alone should kiss and tell. <br /> <br />Why am I tithed what I never did owe? <br />Choked with vicarious saffron and mace? <br />Weary my lids, and my fingers are slow- <br />Gentlemen, damn you, you've halted my pace. <br />Only the lads of the cursed race, <br />Only the knights of the desolate spell, <br />May point me the lines the blood-drops trace- <br />Poets alone should kiss and tell. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> L'ENVOI <br /> <br />Prince or commoner, tenor or bass, <br />Painter or plumber or never-do-well, <br />Do me a favor and shut your face <br />Poets alone should kiss and tell.<br /><br />Dorothy Parker<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ballade-of-a-talked-off-ear/
