Impromptu on Edward Burne-Jones (‘Don't play with sharp tools')

First publ. 1907 in William Allingham’s Diary. The entry for Sunday April 21 1867 recalls a lunch with B. and his sister Sarianna at Warwick Crescent, at which they discussed the work of various contemporaries: ‘Swinburne’s writing “a fuzz of words.” Browning improvises.’ The poem then follows.