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...Some thirty inches from my nose
…...The frontier of my Person goes,
...And all the untilled air between
…...Is private paqus or demesne.
...Stranger, unless with bedroom eyes
…...I beckon you to fraternize,
...Beware of rudely crossing it:
…...I have no gun, but I can spit.
..........— W. H. Auden (1907-1973), British-born poet and critic, in America resident from 1939 onward. "Some Thirty Inches from My Nose" from As I Walked Out One Evening (1940; 1st Vintage edition August 8, 1995).
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