"YOU'LL have a son," the old man said -- "And then a daughter fair to meet As any summer nights that dance Upon a thousand silver feet." "You dear old man, now can you tell If my fair daughter'll marry well?" The old man winked his eye and said, "Well, knowing men for what they are, She'll break their hearts, because she'll not Be half as good as she is fair." The new-made wife was full of pain, And raised her head and hoped again. "And will my son be fine and smart And win a noble lady's heart?" The old man winked his other eye -- "Well, knowing women as we do, The kind of man they most prefer, He'll break their hearts, because he'll be A fool, a coxcomb, and a cur." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...EPITHALAMIUM by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN THE NOBLEMAN AND THE PENSIONER by GOTTLIEB KONRAD PFEFFEL EPISTLE TO MRS. BLOUNT, WITH THE WORKS OF VOITURE by ALEXANDER POPE ODE TO LUDLOW CASTLE by LUCY AIKEN |