What's the Use?
What's the Use? - meaning Summary
Playful Vanity and Perspective
A witty, conversational address to a lover about appearance and perspective. The speaker admiringly tells the addressee to wear pants, praising how they look when advancing but then wryly asks if they have noticed how they appear when retreating. The poem compresses a playful insight: presentation depends on angle, and attraction is mixed with teasing awareness of reversal. Tone is light, ironic, and intimate.
Read Complete AnalysesSure, deck your limbs in pants, Yours are the limbs, my sweeting. You look divine as you advance . . . Have you seen yourself retreating?
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