Suppose by Eugene Field

It's portraying a courtship moment — two individuals sitting side by side, the speaker inching closer, wrapping an arm around their beloved's waist, and then receiving an invitation to kiss through the beloved’s expression. This unfolds without explicit statements; the poem conveys everything through suggestion and the recurring refrain.

That's the essence of the game. The poem thrives on the joy of leaving things unsaid. By posing the question "what would you do?" and replying with "I know — and so do you," Field fosters a feeling of closeness between the reader and the text. The unspoken moments are more enjoyable than laying it all bare.

The speaker is talking directly to their sweetheart — the terms "my dear" and "sweet" make that obvious. The poem essentially recounts what just unfolded between them, presented as a hypothetical, giving it a playful and slightly self-satisfied tone.

It's a joke. The speaker acts like a figure of authority whose "will" is being tested by the beloved's lips. However, this "defiance" is actually an invitation — the lips are playfully challenging the speaker to kiss them. Referring to it as defiance adds a thrill to the moment while maintaining a lighthearted tone.

Each stanza follows an ABABCC pattern, and the last couplet is always the refrain. This fixed ending gives the poem a musical, almost music-hall feel. By the second stanza, you begin to anticipate the refrain, which is precisely Field's intention — the poem teaches you to expect that playful nod.

By Victorian standards, it was a bit flirtatious yet perfectly acceptable—the sort of thing you could read aloud at a dinner party without raising any eyebrows. It hints at physical intimacy (like closing a gap, holding a waist, or kissing) but never directly mentions any of it. This subtlety was a well-regarded art form in the parlor verse of the time.

It invites the beloved to engage with the poem as an active participant instead of merely being an object of the speaker's focus. By encouraging them to envision themselves in the speaker's shoes, Field makes the beloved part of the narrative — they must acknowledge that they would likely have acted similarly. This is a smart tactic for obtaining a "yes" without explicitly requesting it.

Field is best known today for his children's verse, but he also penned a number of light adult poems throughout his career as a newspaper columnist. This type of witty, romantic short poem was a hallmark of his writing for general audiences and was often reprinted in newspapers and gift books during his lifetime.