OH mis'ry of Mankind! For at the Bar Are strifes and quarrels; at our houses, Care; In fields, hard labour; dangers, on the sea; Who travels rich, can ne'er from fears be free; Grievous is Want; Marriage, eternal strife: A single, is a solitary life; Children, bring Care and Trouble; to have none, The happiness of wedlock is not known; Our Youth is Folly; e'er we can grow wise, We're old, and loaded with infirmities. So we may wish, who have th' experience try'd, That we had ne'er been born: or soon as born had died. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SONG FOR ST. CECILIA'S DAY by JOHN DRYDEN THE SPINNING-WHEEL [SONG] by JOHN FRANCIS WALLER TO A GIRL by ASCLEPIADES OF SAMOS TO ONE ON HER BIRTHDAY (2) by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT HONOUR'S MARTYR by EMILY JANE BRONTE THE HULDRA-WOMAN by STOPFORD AUGUSTUS BROOKE |