Classic Poem

Because the little gentleman made nautical instruments
And lived in a street which ran down to the sea,
The neighbours called him “Salt Charlie.”
I wonder what they would have said if they had known
That he stole out every evening to a sweet-shop
And bought sticks of red-and-white sugar candy.
It was a pleasant thing to see him,
Standing meekly before the custom-house,
Sucking a sugar-stick,
And gazing at the dead funnels of anchored steamers
Against a star-sprung sky.

I thought of him in an oval gilt frame
Against sprigged wall-paper,
Done in Fra Angelico pinks and blues
Of a clear and sprightly elegance.
Wherefore, being convinced of his value as ornament,
I have set him on paper for the delectation
Of sundry scattered persons
Who consider such things important.