Poem ID: two lovers meet in a shop and touch hands over handkerchiefs

September 11, 2014 10:59 PM

I've thus far been unable to find this poem online given only the lines I remember. It starts off with something like "she asked how much for the handkerchiefs..." and then she flirts with the store worker, and they use the handkerchiefs as an excuse to touch hands. And there's a line about the shopkeeper being in the back so he doesn't notice...

Any help IDing this poem would be much appreciated! :)

And I'm also interested in finding new poems in the same mood: carefully describing a single interaction between two people (not necessarily romantic) but "The Quiet World" by Jeffrey McDaniel would be another example.

Thanks!

posted by ch3cooh to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Best answer: Is it He Asked About the Quality?

He asked about the quality of the handkerchiefs
and how much they cost, his voice choking,
almost silenced by desire.
And the answers came back the same way,
distracted, the voice hushed,
offering hidden consent.

They kept on talking about the merchandise—but
the only purpose: that their hands might touch
over the handkerchiefs, that their faces, their lips,
might move close together as though by chance—
a moment’s meeting of limb against limb.

Quickly, secretly, so the shopowner sitting at the back
wouldn’t realize what was going on.
posted by the webmistress at 11:33 PM on September 11, 2014 [3 favorites]

Bah, I spent several minutes looking up the Greek original and then discovered it was linked at the bottom of the page! Ah well, here's a good reading of the Greek by Spyros Kasimatis; the quoted part starts at 1:15. (By the way, there's no "she" involved; these are two men, which is why it has to be so furtive.)
posted by languagehat at 9:51 AM on September 12, 2014

Best answer: And here's a reading of a version by Charles Bryant; it says "Adapted from the Greek," and it's a very free and perhaps overdramatic expansion/adaptation, but I find it refreshing after the dry and unpoetic straight translation by Keeley and Sherrard, whose academic credentials are impeccable but whose sense of poetry is not. I'm having trouble finding other online versions in English, but here's one translated by Nikos Stangos and Stephen Spender of just the ending, the part quoted above:

He enquired after the quality of the handkerchiefs
and what they cost, in a low voice
almost stifled by desire.
And the answers that came followed suit
abstracted, in a choking voice
implying willingness.

They kept on murmuring things about the goods—but
their sole intent: to touch each other's hands
across the handkerchiefs; to bring their face
and their lips close together, as if by chance;
a momentary contact of their limbs.
Quickly and stealthily so that the owner of the shop
sitting at the far end should not notice.
posted by languagehat at 10:04 AM on September 12, 2014 [1 favorite]