He Knew by Victor J. Daley

She was the Ball-room Belle, said all --
   And there were many there to see --
At that Vice-Regal festival
   Of grace and chivalry.

The men admired her, young and old,
   And wide and foolish, fresh and take;
But she was an iceberg cold,
   And as an iceberg pale.

With scornful glance and queenly air,
   She gazed upon the glowing scene,
As if a queen indeed she were
   And men her subjects mean.

One man alone of all the throng
   Kept far aloof from her awhile;
And, as she proudly swept away,
   Surveyed her with a smile.

Had he with hopeless love gone mad?
   Or was his cynicism forced?
Not so -- not nearly so; they had
   Been married -- and divorced.

And so, while conquests marked her track,
   He merely smiled to think that she
Had two large warts upon her back
   And was bandy in one knee.

First published in The Bulletin, 24 February 1900

Note: this poem was originally published with the illustration shown here.

Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library

See also.