The Spoilsport

Robert Graves

 
My familiar ghost again
    Comes to see what he can see,
Critic, son of Conscious Brain,
    Spying on our privacy.
Slam the window, bolt the door,
    Yet he'll enter in and stay;
In to-morrow's book he'll score
    Indiscretions of to-day.
Whispered love and muttered fears,
    How their echoes fly about!
None escape his watchful ears,
    Every sigh might be a shout.
No kind words nor angry cries
    Turn away this grim spoilsport;
No fine lady's pleading eyes,
    Neither love, nor hate, nor...port.
Critic wears no smile of fun,
    Speaks no word of blame nor praise,
Counts our kisses one by one,
    Notes each gesture, every phrase.
My familiar ghost again
    Stands or squats where suits him best;
Critic, son of Conscious Brain,
    Listens, watches, takes no rest.
 

Poems by This Author

A Slice of Wedding Cake by Robert Graves
Babylon by Robert Graves
The child alone a poet is
I Wonder What It Feels Like to be Drowned? by Robert Graves
Look at my knees
Not Dead by Robert Graves
Walking through trees to cool my heat and pain
The Caterpillar by Robert Graves
Under this loop of honeysuckle
The Shivering Beggar by Robert Graves
Near Clapham village, where fields began
To Juan at the Winter Solstice by Robert Graves


Further Reading

Related Poems
Essay on Criticism [But most by numbers]
by Alexander Pope
Bullfight critics ranked in rows [excerpt]
by Domingo Ortega
Critic and Poet
by Emma Lazarus