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Oct 18, 2026 <1 min

A happy lip—breaks sudden

from Ririro.com - Poetry Hosted by Ririro

"A happy lip—breaks sudden" is a short poem that sets two kinds of smiles side by side. One breaks open without warning, quick and unplanned. The other is worn with careful patience, so steady that it begins to resemble pain. Dickinson's speaker studies this second smile, freshly gilded and polished to turn away every searching glance. In only a few dashes, the poem asks what a face is hiding and whether merriment can be a mask. Read it online for free. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ririro-com-poetry--6577576/support.

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A happy lip—breaks sudden

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Song Against Songs, The by G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936) LibriVox LibriVox volunteers bring you 9 recordings of The Song Against Songs by G. K. Chesterton. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for October 16, 2011. Chesterton was a large man, standing 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and weighing around 21 stone (130 kg; 290 lb). His girth gave rise to a famous anecdote. During World War I a lady in London asked why he was not 'out at the Front'; he replied, 'If you go round to the side, you will see that I am.' On another occasion he remarked to his friend George Bernard Shaw: "To look at you, anyone would think a famine had struck England". Shaw retorted, "To look at you, anyone would think you have caused it". P. G. Wodehouse once described a very loud crash as "a sound like Chesterton falling onto a sheet of tin."( Summary from Wikipedia )

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