Down Stucco side streets
Where daylight is pewter
And afternoon mist
Brings lights on in shops
Above race guides and rosaries
A funeral passes.
The hearse is ahead
But after there follows
A troop of streetwalkers
In wide flowered hats
Leg-of-Mutton Sleeves
And ankle length dresses.
There is an air of great friendliness
As if they were honouring
One they were fond of;
Some caper afew steps,
Skirts held skilfully,
Someone claps time,
And of great sadness also,
As they wend away
A voice is heard singing
Of Kitty, or Katy,
As if the name meant once
All love, all beauty.
'Dublinesque', poem by Philip Larkin
Right: 'Une Rue a Dieppe', c 1898.
First exhibited in Paris,
Bernheim,1904
Last in London UK, 1960.
The parallels between 'une rue a Dieppe', and London's Cleveland Street with its no. 21, 'Kelly's Library' are distinct and obvious.
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