So there stood Matthew Arnold and this girl br With the cliffs of England crumbling away behind them, br And he said to her, 'Try to be true to me, br And I'll do the same for you, for things are bad br All over, etc., etc.' br Well now, I knew this girl. It's true she had read br Sophocles in a fairly good translation br And caught that bitter allusion to the sea, br But all the time he was talking she had in mind br the notion of what his whiskers would feel like br On the back of her neck. She told me later on br That after a while she got to looking out br At the lights across the channel, and really felt sad, br Thinking of all the wine and enormous beds br And blandishments in French and the perfumes. br And then she got really angry. To have been brought br All the way down from London, and then be addressed br As sort of a mournful cosmic last resort br Is really tough on a girl, and she was pretty. br Anyway, she watched him pace the room br and finger his watch-chain and seem to sweat a bit, br And then she said one or two unprintable things. br But you mustn't judge her by that. What I mean to say is, br She's really all right. I still see her once in a while br And she always treats me right. We have a drink br And I give her a good time, and perhaps it's a year br Before I see her again, but there she is, br Running to fat, but dependable as they come, br And sometimes I bring her a bottle of Nuit d'Amour.