Explore "Armenonville" by Edna St. Vincent Millay on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
By the lake at Armenonville in the Bois de Boulogne
Small begonias had been set in the embankment, both / pink and red; With polished leaf and brittle, juicy stem; They covered the embankment; there were wagon-loads / of them,
Charming and neat, gay colours in the warm shade.
We had preferred a table near the lake, half out of view, / Well out of hearing, for a voice not raised above
A low, impassioned question and its low reply.
We both leaned forward with our elbows on the table, / and you
Watched my mouth while I answered, and it made me / shy. I looked about, but the waiters knew we were in love,
And matter-of-factly left us blissfully alone.
There swam across the lake, as I looked aside, avoiding
Your eyes for a moment, there swam from under the / pink and red begonias A small creature; I thought it was a water-rat; it swam / very well,
In complete silence, and making no ripples at all
Hardly; and when suddenly I turned again to you, / Aware that you were speaking, and perhaps had been / speaking for some time,
I was aghast at my absence, for truly I did not know
Whether you had been asking or telling.