The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
"Ice Cream" is a soft delight, the simple and sweet culmination of a long meal or a long walk along the beach with a loved one. An emperor is a ruler whose holdings know no bounds, whose rule outstrips the visible boundaries of his native people. Perhaps, then, "The Emperor of Ice-Cream" is the height of every simple pleasure, the eternal rest that every man and woman looks forward to after their long and perhaps trying time on earth.
Or perhaps "The Emperor of Ice Cream" is a big guy sitting on a big tub of Rocky Road.
The first stanza definitely describes an idyllic, simple scene. "The roller of big cigars" suggests a working class type, one possessing great strength. The contrasting image of a man dishing up "kitchen cups of concupiscent curds" is very telling. "Concupiscent" means "vigorously passionate, lusty – having or expressing strong
emotions." The adjective describes possibly the image of the curds scooping up alongside the cups, the manner in which the roller of cigars thrashes them out, or the desire which these illicit curd waves elicit in others watching him beat them out.
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face."
There is a dead woman featured in this passage, whose face will be covered with a sheet that she had once worked on, on which she had embroidered "fantails". Just the word "fantails" consists of ease and ends, or ease in the end. "Fantails" carries with it a wide assortment of images:
rounded, fan-shaped tail.
of eastern Asia and Australia, having a long, fan-shaped tail.
double tail fin.