In a great square; and then the surging streets
That cut the town in two, where its heart beats.
Crowds jostle to and fro, brats cadge for alms,
Sell lottery tickets, hand their sister’s card
(With her address, nude photograph and hours);
Men offer little birds, old women flow’rs;
Red-coated guards loaf by; a half-blind bard
Drones out stale tunes; and amorous ladies stare
(Clad in rich clothes, with very bad black eyes)
At men with Brownings bulging at their thighs