Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A NEW SONG OF NEW SIMILES, by JOHN GAY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: My passion is as mustard strong Last Line: And mute as any fish. Subject(s): Language; Metaphor; Words; Vocabulary; Similes | ||||||||
My passion is as mustard strong; I sit all sober sad; Drunk as a piper all day long, Or like a March-hare mad. Round as a hoop the bumpers flow; I drink, yet can't forget her; For, though as drunk as David's sow, I love her still the better. Pert as a pear-monger I'd be, If Molly were but kind; Cool as a cucumber could see The rest of womankind. Like a stuck pig I gaping stare, And eye her o'er and o'er; Lean as a rake with sighs and care; Sleek as a mouse before, Plump as a partridge was I known, And soft as silk my skin My cheeks as fat as butter grown; But as a groat now thin! I, melancholy as a cat, And kept awake to weep; But she, insensible of that, Sound as a top can sleep. Hard is her heart as flint or stone, She laughs to see me pale; And merry as a grig is grown, And brisk as bottled ale. The God of Love at her approach Is busy as a bee; Hearts, sound as any bell or roach, Are smit and sigh like me. Ay me! as thick as hops or hail, The fine men crowd about her; But soon as dead as a door nail Shall I be, if without her. Straight as my leg her shape appears, O were we join'd together! My heart would be scot-free from cares, And lighter than a feather. As fine as fivepence is her mien, No drum was ever tighter; Her glance is as the razor keen, And not the sun is brighter. As soft as pap her kisses are, Methinks I taste them yet; Brown as a berry is her hair, Her eyes as black as jet: As smooth as glass, as white as curds, Her pretty hand invites; Sharp as a needle are her words; Her wit, like pepper, bites: Brisk as a body-louse she trips, Clean as a penny drest; Sweet as a rose her breath and lips, Round as the globe her breast. Full as an egg was I with glee; And happy as a king. Good Lord! how all men envy'd me! She lov'd like anything. But, false as hell! she, like the wind, Chang'd, as her sex must do; Though seeming as the turtle kind, And like the gospel true. If I and Molly could agree, Let who would take Peru! Great as an emperor should I be, And richer than a Jew. Till you grow tender as a chick, I'm dull as any post; Let us, like burs, together stick, And warm as any toast. You'll know me truer than a dye; And wish me better speed; Flat as a flounder when I lie, And as a herring dead. Sure as a gun, she'll drop a tear, And sigh, perhaps, and wish, When I am rotten as a pear, And mute as any fish. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LOVING YOU IN FLEMISH by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR THE CLOUDS OF MAGELLAN (APHORISMS OF MR. CANON ASPIRIN) by NORMAN DUBIE NOT WRITING POEMS ABOUT CHILDREN by CAROLYN KIZER MAROON BELLS by KENNETH REXROTH THINKING OF A RELATION BETWEEN THE IMAGES OF METHAPHORS by WALLACE STEVENS MY FATHER'S GARDEN by DAVID WAGONER AND AS IN ALICE by MARY JO BANG A RED, RED ROSE by ROBERT BURNS FABLES: 1ST SER. 5. THE WILD BOAR AND THE RAM by JOHN GAY LESSER EPISTLES: TO A LADY ON HER PASSION FOR OLD CHINA by JOHN GAY |
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