Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE GROOMSMAN TO HIS MISTRESS, by THOMAS WILLIAM PARSONS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE GROOMSMAN TO HIS MISTRESS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Every wedding, says the proverb
Last Line: What if't were—both mine and thine?
Subject(s): Marriage; Weddings; Husbands; Wives


EVERY wedding, says the proverb,
Makes another, soon or late;
Never yet was any marriage
Entered in the book of fate,
But the names were also written
Of the patient pair that wait.

Blessings then upon the morning
When my friend, with fondest look,
By the solemn rites' permission,
To himself his mistress took,
And the destinies recorded
Other two within their book.

While the priest fulfilled his office,
Still the ground the lovers eyed,
And the parents and the kinsmen
Aimed their glances at the bride;
But the groomsmen eyed the virgins
Who were waiting at her side.

Three there were that stood beside her;
One was dark, and one was fair;
But nor fair nor dark the other,
Save her Arab eyes and hair;
Neither dark nor fair I call her,
Yet she was the fairest there.

While her groomsman—shall I own it?
Yes, to thee, and only thee—
Gazed upon this dark-eyed maiden
Who was fairest of the three,
Thus he thought: "How blest the bridal
Where the bride were such as she!"

Then I mused upon the adage,
Till my wisdom was perplexed,
And I wondered, as the churchman
Dwelt upon his holy text,
Which of all who heard his lesson
Should require the service next.

Whose will be the next occasion
For the flowers, the feast, the wine?
Thine, perchance, my dearest lady;
Or, who knows?—it may be mine;
What if't were—forgive the fancy—
What if't were—both mine and thine?





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