Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, APRIL, OR THE NEW HAT, by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

APRIL, OR THE NEW HAT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: My boots had been wash'd - well wash'd - in a show'r
Last Line: "when I purchas'd thee, purchase a gingham!"
Subject(s): April


Prologue

MY Boots had been wash'd -- well wash'd -- in a show'r;
But little I griev'd about that:
What I felt was the havock a single half-hour
Had made with my costly new Hat.

For the Boot, tho' its lustre be dimm'd, shall assume
Fresh sprightliness after a while:
But what art may restore its original bloom,
When once it hath flown, to the Tile?

I clomb to my perch, and the Horses (a bay
And a brown) trotted off with a clatter:
The Driver look'd round in his affable way
And said huskily "Who is your hatter?"

I was pleas'd that he'd notic'd its shape and its shine,
And as soon as we reached the Old Druid
I begg'd that he'd drink to my new Four-and-nine
In a glass of his favourite Fluid.

A gratified smile sat, I own, on my lips
When the Landlady called to the Master
(He was standing hard by with his hands on his hips)
To "look at the gentleman's Castor!"

I laugh'd, as an Organ-man paus'd in mid-air
('Twas an air that I happen'd to know
By a great foreign Maestro) expressly to stare
At ze gent wiz ze joli chapeau.

Yet how swift is the transit from laughter to tears!
Our glories, how fleeting are they!
That Hat might (with care) have adorned me for years;
But 'twas ruin'd, alack, in a Day!

How I lov'd thee, my Bright One! I wrench in Remorse
My hands from my Coat-tail and wring 'em:
"Why did not I, why, as a matter of course,
When I purchas'd thee, purchase a Gingham!"





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