Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WHEN I MEAN TO MARRY, by JOHN GODFREY SAXE Poet's Biography First Line: When do I mean to marry? - well Last Line: And look about me for a wife! Subject(s): Marriage; Weddings; Husbands; Wives | ||||||||
WHEN do I mean to marry? -- Well, 'T is idle to dispute with fate; But if you choose to hear me tell, Pray listen while I fix the date. When daughters haste, with eager feet, A mother's daily toil to share; Can make the puddings which they eat, And mend the stockings which they wear; When maidens look upon a man As in himself what they would marry, And not as army-soldiers scan A sutler or a commissary; When gentle ladies, who have got The offer of a lover's hand, Consent to share his earthly lot, And do not mean his lot of land; When young mechanics are allowed To find and wed the farmers' girls Who don't expect to be endowed With rubies, diamonds, and pearls; When wives, in short, shall freely give Their hearts and hands to aid their spouses, And live as they were wont to live Within their sires' one-story houses; Then, madam, -- if I'm not too old, -- Rejoiced to quit this lonely life, I'll brush my beaver; cease to scold; And look about me for a wife! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BLESSING FOR A WEDDING by JANE HIRSHFIELD A SUITE FOR MARRIAGE by DAVID IGNATOW ADVICE TO HER SON ON MARRIAGE by MARY BARBER THE RABBI'S SON-IN-LAW by SABINE BARING-GOULD KISSING AGAIN by DORIANNE LAUX A TIME PAST by DENISE LEVERTOV DEATH AND CUPID; AN ALLEGORY by JOHN GODFREY SAXE |
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