Nor We Of Her To Him

Portrait of Stevie Smith
Stevie Smith 1902–1971

He said no word of her to us Nor we of her to him, But oh it saddened us to see How wan he grew and thin. We said: she eats him day and night And draws the blood from him, We did not know but said we thought This was why he grew thin.

One day we called and rang the bell, No answer came within, We said: She must have took him off To the forest old and grim, It has fell out, we said, that she Eats him in forest grim, And how can we help him being eaten Up in forests grim?

It is a restless time we spend, We have no help from him, We walk about and go to bed, It is no help to him. Sometimes we shake our heads and say It might have better been If he had spoke of us to her Or we of her to him. Which makes us feel helpful, until The silence comes again.

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