Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A LOVE GAME, by W. B. ANDERSON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A LOVE GAME, by                    
First Line: Twas after a game of tennis
Last Line: Our lips met over the net.
Subject(s): Courtship; Love - Beginnings


'T WAS after a game of tennis;
My service had won the set,
And, in merry congratulation,
Our hands met over the net.

I said, half-jesting, half-earnest, "When Jacob so long ago
Served fourteen years for a wife, he won in the end, you know;
Now, how many years of service would you ask from the man you'd wed?"
Though the glance of her eyes belied her, "Fifteen -- love," was what she said.

A trifle piqued at her answer, I said, "He would then be old,
And your love for the faithful server would perchance have grown cold;
Pray tell me what age would suit you in the man you would care to wed?"
Though the glance of her eyes belied her, "Thirty -- love," was what she said.

"You speak as though you'd decided to marry a man of that age,
But your eyes tell a different story, in spite of their look so sage;
Now, how many men of that age have you seen whom you'd care to wed?"
Though the glance of her eyes belied her, "Forty -- love," was what she said.

Half in anger I turned to leave her; but she was a true coquette,
And e'er I was out of hearing a whisper came from the net:
"Don't you know, you silly fellow, that you are the man I'd wed,
And all that I've said was only 'Game -- love,'" she laughingly said.

'T was after a game of tennis;
My service had won the set,
And, in reconciliation,
Our lips met over the net.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net