| Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935). Collected Poems. 1921. |
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| II. The Children of the Night |
| 21. Cliff Klingenhagen |
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| CLIFF KLINGENHAGEN had me in to dine | |
| With him one day; and after soup and meat, | |
| And all the other things there were to eat, | |
| Cliff took two glasses and filled one with wine | |
| And one with wormwood. Then, without a sign | 5 |
| For me to choose at all, he took the draught | |
| Of bitterness himself, and lightly quaffed | |
| It off, and said the other one was mine. | |
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| And when I asked him what the deuce he meant | |
| By doing that, he only looked at me | 10 |
| And smiled, and said it was a way of his. | |
| And though I know the fellow, I have spent | |
| Long time a-wondering when I shall be | |
| As happy as Cliff Klingenhagen is. | |
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