| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | Smell! | | By William Carlos Williams |
| | | O STRONG-RIDGED and deeply hollowed | |
| Nose of mine!—what will you not be smelling? | |
| What tactless asses we are, you and I, bony nose, | |
| Always indiscriminate, always unashamed! | |
| And now it is the souring flowers of the bedraggled | 5 |
| Poplars—a festering pulp on the wet earth | |
| Beneath them—with what deep a thirst | |
| We quicken our desires, O nose of mine, | |
| To that rank odor of a passing springtime! | |
| Can you not be decent? Can you not reserve your ardors | 10 |
| For something less unlovely? What girl will care | |
| For us, do you think, if we continue in these ways? | |
| Must you taste everything? Must you know everything? | |
| Must you have a part in everything? | | | | |
|
|
