Riposte

by William Carlos Williams

Riposte was published in Williams' collection, Al Que Quiere! A Book of Poems (1917).

Heart-shaped lock, tobacco label, 1887

　　Love is like water or the air my townspeople; it cleanses, and dissipates evil gases. It is like poetry too and for the same reasons. Love is so precious my townspeople that if I were you I would have it under lock and key— like the air or the Atlantic or like poetry!

Featured in our collection of 100 Great Poems

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