Page:Collected poems Robinson, Edwin Arlington.djvu/22

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FLAMMONDE

But none of us could lift a hand. The man Flammonde appraised the youth, And told a few of us the truth; And thereby, for a little gold, A flowered future was unrolled.
There were two citizens who fought For years and years, and over nought; They made life awkward for their friends, And shortened their own dividends. The man Flammonde said what was wrong Should be made right; nor was it long Before they were again in line, And had each other in to dine.
And these I mention are but four Of many out of many more. So much for them. But what of him So firm in every look and limb? What small satanic sort of kink Was in his brain ? What broken link Withheld him from the destinies That came so near to being his?
What was he, when we came to sift His meaning, and to note the drift Of incommunicable ways That make us ponder while we praise? Why was it that his charm revealed Somehow the surface of a shield? What was it that we never caught? What was he, and what was he not?
How much it was of him we met We cannot ever know; nor yet

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