poetry texts, poem archive at plagiarist.com

Read more poems by Robert Service: Robert Service Poems at Poetry X.

Mary and I were twenty-two
          When we were wed;
A well-matched pair, right smart to view
          The town's folk said.
For twenty years I have been true
          To nuptial bed.

But oh alas! The march of time,
          Life's wear and tear!
Now I am in my lusty prime
          With pep to spare,
While she looks ten more years than I'm,
          With greying hair.

'Twas on our trip dear friends among,
          To New Orleans,
A stranger's silly trip of tongue
          Kiboshed my dreams:
I heard her say: 'How very young
          His mother seems.'

Child-bearing gets a woman down,
          And six had she;
Yet now somehow I feel a clown
          When she's with me;
When cuties smile one cannot frown,
          You must agree.

How often I have heard it said:
          'For happy fate,
In age a girl ten years ahead
          Should choose her mate.'
Now twenty years to Mary wed
          I know too late.

Added: 29 Jun 2002 | Last Read: 21 Aug 2008 5:42 AM | Viewed: 2073 times

PoetryNotes™ Analysis

A custom PoetryNotes™ eBook may be ordered for this poem. Get help with your homework - delivered in 5-6 days.

For more information...