Classic and Contemporary Poetry
APRIL, OR THE NEW HAT, by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY Poet's Biography First Line: My boots had been wash'd - well wash'd - in a show'r Last Line: "when I purchas'd thee, purchase a gingham!" Subject(s): April | ||||||||
Prologue MY Boots had been wash'd -- well wash'd -- in a show'r; But little I griev'd about that: What I felt was the havock a single half-hour Had made with my costly new Hat. For the Boot, tho' its lustre be dimm'd, shall assume Fresh sprightliness after a while: But what art may restore its original bloom, When once it hath flown, to the Tile? I clomb to my perch, and the Horses (a bay And a brown) trotted off with a clatter: The Driver look'd round in his affable way And said huskily "Who is your hatter?" I was pleas'd that he'd notic'd its shape and its shine, And as soon as we reached the Old Druid I begg'd that he'd drink to my new Four-and-nine In a glass of his favourite Fluid. A gratified smile sat, I own, on my lips When the Landlady called to the Master (He was standing hard by with his hands on his hips) To "look at the gentleman's Castor!" I laugh'd, as an Organ-man paus'd in mid-air ('Twas an air that I happen'd to know By a great foreign Maestro) expressly to stare At ze gent wiz ze joli chapeau. Yet how swift is the transit from laughter to tears! Our glories, how fleeting are they! That Hat might (with care) have adorned me for years; But 'twas ruin'd, alack, in a Day! How I lov'd thee, my Bright One! I wrench in Remorse My hands from my Coat-tail and wring 'em: "Why did not I, why, as a matter of course, When I purchas'd thee, purchase a Gingham!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FOR CITY SPRING by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET ESSAY ON STONE by HAYDEN CARRUTH APRIL NOT AN INVENTORY BUT A BLIZZARD by ALICE NOTLEY APRIL ONE by ALICIA SUSKIN OSTRIKER APRIL by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS MEMORY OF APRIL by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS APRIL MORTALITY by LEONIE ADAMS HIC VIR, HIC EST' by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY |
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