Villanelle

Beautiful, distracting Hetty,
This was how it came to be
As we strolled upon the jetty.

I had danced three times with Netty,
She had flirted with Dobree,
Beautiful, distracting Hetty.

I was humming Donizetti,
Hurt was I, and angry she,
As we strolled upon the jetty.

As she levelled her Negretti
With provoking nicety,
Beautiful, distracting Hetty,

Suddenly she flashed a pretty,
Half-defiant glance at me,
As we strolled upon the jetty.

And our quarrel seemed so petty
By the grandeur of the sea!
Beautiful, distracting Hetty,
As we strolled upon the jetty.

Cosmo Monkhouse.