Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ON MARRIAGE IN BOOKS, by CHARLES WILLIAMS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ON MARRIAGE IN BOOKS, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Beauty's dull husband, neighbourhood, they say
Last Line: Made naught of by her kindred, mocked and shamed.
Subject(s): Marriage; Weddings; Husbands; Wives


BEAUTY'S dull husband, Neighbourhood, they say,
When first he knew she had had a child by Joy,
Her earlier love, killed in some border fray,
Was tender more than wont, and to the boy
Gave food and houseroom; then, for better aid
When he should come to face the world alone,
Taught him his catechism, and a trade:
The while his mother, making plaintive moan,
Sat in friends' parlours, to condoling ears
Sighing how grievous fate had left her days
Thus widowed of true marriage; then, with tears,
How Love her child was learning coarser ways.
And for all this poor Neighbourhood is defamed,
Made naught of by her kindred, mocked and shamed.





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