Edwin Arlington Robinson - Tact lyrics

Observant of the way she told   So much of what was true, No vanity could long withhold   Regard that was her due: She spared him the familiar guile,   So easily achieved, That only made a man to smile   And left him undeceived. Aware that all imagining   Of more than what she meant Would urge an end of everything,   He stayed; and when he went, They parted with a merry word   That was to him as light As any that was ever heard   Upon a starry night. She smiled a little, knowing well   That he would not remark The ruins of a day that fell   Around her in the dark: He saw no ruins anywhere,   Nor fancied there were scars On anyone who lingered there,   Alone below the stars.