Pagani’s

Pagani’s - meaning Summary

Unexpected Double Identity

This tiny, epigrammatic poem records a sudden, disorienting recognition: the speaker sees in a fashionable Normande cocotte the face of a learned British Museum assistant. It compresses social contrast and personal surprise into a single instant, suggesting how outward beauty and hidden intellect can coexist or be mistaken for one another. The line hints at irony about appearances, roles, and the collisions between public persona and private identity.