She watched the blaze,
And so I said the thing I'd come to say,
Pondered for days.

Her lips moved slow,
And the wide eye she flashed on me
Was sudden as a blow.

She turned again,
Her hands clasped her knees, and did not speak
—She did not deign.

And I, poor gnome!
A chided cur crawls to a hole to hide!
… I toddled home!