Cyrano De Bergerac
Cyrano De Bergerac - meaning Summary
Awkward Courtship, Assumed Role
The poem narrates a shy, comic courtship in which the speaker rehearses awkward schemes to approach a woman who seems evasive. When they finally meet properly, she confides romantic worry and treats him as a calm, priestly confidant. The closing irony reveals his private sexual self—he catches his lecherous reflection and then resumes a veneer of dignity. The poem contrasts public decorum with concealed desire and social anxiety.
Read Complete AnalysesShe kicked a pebble with her toe, She tapped a railing idly – And when we met she swerved and took The corner very widely. I thought that could be love; I know The power of the male, But without an introduction The thing, she knows, will fail. And so I planned for many a day A ruse to soothe convention: Stare up at numbers over doors And some vague doctor mention; Or get myself invited to Some party where she’d be – But all these things went down the drain Of anti-dignity. And then one day we actually Did meet by introduction And I told her with a laugh or two She had been my distraction. She told me I was subtle, her Love distress to note; She was in love and worried About someone who was not. And she always thought when looking at My loving priestly face That I was one who surely Could give her love-advice… And from the mirror, going out, The lecher looked at me And grinned before resuming His priestly dignity.
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