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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE PLURALIST AND OLD SOLDIER, by JOHN COLLIER (1708-1786) First Line: A soldier maimed and in the beggar's list Last Line: With the rough soldier, to eternity. Subject(s): Pensions | |||
A SOLDIER maimed and in the beggars' list Did thus address a well-fed pluralist: Sol. At Guadeloupe my leg and thigh I lost, No pension have I, though its right I boast; Your reverence, please some charity bestow, Heav'n will pay doublewhen you're there, you know. Plu. Heav'n pay me double! Vagrantknow that I Ne'er give to strollers, they're so apt to lie: Your parish and some work would you become, So haste awayor constable's your doom. Sol. May't please your reverence, hear my case, and then You'll say I'm poorer than the most of men: When Marlbro siegèd Lisle, I first drew breath, And there my father met untimely death; My mother followed, of a broken heart, So I've no friend or parish, for my part. Plu. I say, begone. With that, he loudly knocks, And Timber-toe begins to smell the stocks. Away he stumpsbut, in a rood or two, He cleared his weasand and his thoughts broke through: Sol. This 'tis to beg of those who sometimes preach Calm charity, and ev'ry virtue teach; But their disguise to common sense is thin: A pocket buttonedhypocrite within. Send me, kind heav'n, the well-tanned captain's face, Who gives me twelvepence and a curse, with grace; But let me not, in house or lane or street, These treble-pensioned parsons ever meet; And when I die, may I still numbered be With the rough soldier, to eternity. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AT PENSION TIME; TO A.R.F. by AUSTIN PHILIPS FIFTY POUNDS A YEAR AND A PENSION by JAMES STEPHENS THE SWEEPERS by WILLIAM WHITEHEAD SITTING OUTDOORS by LU YU (1125-1210) TO A FRIEND by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS THE BETTER PART by MATTHEW ARNOLD THE TWO WIVES by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS THE DYING SWAN by THOMAS STURGE MOORE |
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