Tact

Read 'Tact' by 'Edwin Arlington Robinson' and provide your summary and literary analysis in the comments section below.

Tact by Edwin Arlington Robinson

 Observant of the way she told
 So much of what was true,
No vanity could long withhold
 Regard that was her due:
She spared him the familiar guide,
 So easily achieved,
That only made a man to smile
 And left him undeceived.

Aware that all imagining
 Of more than what she meant
Would urge an end of everything,
 He stayed; and when he went,
They parted with a merry word
 That was to him as light
As any that was ever heard
 Upon a starry night.

She smiled a little, knowing well
 That he would not remark
The ruins of the a day that fell
 Around her in the dark:
He saw no ruins anywhere,
 Nor fancied there were scars
On anyone who lingered there,
 Along below the stars.

Form: Ballad Comments

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