Green Bays. Verses and Parodies by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
page 18 of 55 (32%)
page 18 of 55 (32%)
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Change out of chop. Ah me! the talk, the tip,
The would-be-evening should-be-mourning suit, The forged solicitude for petty wants More petty still than they,--all these I loathe, Learning they lie who feign that all things come To him that waiteth. I have waited long, And now I go, to mate me with a bride Who is aweary waiting, even as I!' But when the amorous moon of honeycomb Was over, ere the matron-flower of Love-- Step-sister of To-morrow's marmalade-- Swooned scentless, Mariana found her lord Did something jar the nicer feminine sense With usage, being all too fine and large, Instinct of warmth and colour, with a trick Of blunting 'Mariana's' keener edge To 'Mary Ann'--the same but not the same: Whereat she girded, tore her crisped hair, Called him 'Sir Churl,' and ever calling 'Churl!' Drave him to Science, then to Alcohol, To forge a thousand theories of the rocks, Then somewhat else for thousands dewy cool, Wherewith he sought a more Pacific isle And there found love, a duskier love than hers. MEASURE FOR MEASURE. |
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