M.B. 

I threw my arms about those shoulders, glancing 

at what emerged behind that back, 

and saw a chair pushed slightly forward, 

merging now with the lighted wall. 

The lamp glared too bright to show 

the shabby furniture to some advantage, 

and that is why sofa of brown leather 

shone a sort of yellow in a corner. 

The table looked bare, the parquet glossy, 

the stove quite dark, and in a dusty frame 

a landscape did not stir. Only the sideboard 

seemed to me to have some animation. 

But a moth flitted round the room, 

causing my arrested glance to shift; 

and if at any time a ghost had lived here, 

he now was gone, abandoning this house.