Classic and Contemporary Poetry
NABBY, THE NEW YORK HOUSEKEEPER, by PHILIP FRENEAU Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Well, nanny, I am sorry to find, since you write us Last Line: The beefe is half rawand the bell rings for dinner! Subject(s): Friendship; Housekeeping; New York City - Revolutionary Period; United States - Congress | ||||||||
TO NANNY, HER FRIEND IN PHILADELPHIA, AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF CONGRESS FROM NEW YORK, Well, Nanny, I am sorry to find, since you writ us, The Congress at last has determined to quit us; You now may begin with your dish-clouts and brooms, To be scouring your knockers and scrubbing your rooms; As for us, my dear Nanny, we're much in a pet, And hundreds of houses will be to be let; Our streets, that were just in a way to look clever, Will now be neglected and nasty as ever; Again we must fret at the Dutchified gutters And pebble-stone pavements that wear out our trotters. My master looks dull, and his spirits are sinking, From morning to night he is smoking and thinking, Laments the expense of destroying the fort, And says, your great people are all of a sort He hopes and prays they may die in a stall If they leave us in debtfor Federal Hall And Strap has declared, he has so much regards, He will go, if they go, for the sake of their beards. Miss Letty, poor lady, is so in the pouts, She values no longer our dances and routs, And sits in a corner, dejected and pale, As dull as a cat, and as lean as a rail! Poor thing, I'm certain she's in a decay, And allbecause Congress resolvenot to stay! This Congress unsettled is, sure, a sad thing, Seven years, my dear Nanny, they've been on the wing; My master would rather saw timber, or dig, Than see them removing to Conegocheague, Where the houses and kitchens are yet to be framed, The trees to be felled, and the streets to be named; Of the two we had rather your town should receive 'em So here, my dear Nanny, in haste I must leave 'em, I'm a dunce at inditingand as I'm a sinner, The beefe is half rawand the bell rings for dinner! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FIRST AMERICAN CONGRESS by JOEL BARLOW THE CORRIDORS OF CONGRESS (REVISITED IN VACATION) by ROBERT UNDERWOOD JOHNSON THE BOOK OF THE DEAD: THE DISEASE: THE AFTER-EFFECTS by MURIEL RUKEYSER THE BOOK OF THE DEAD: THE BILL by MURIEL RUKEYSER AN ANCIENT PROPHECY by PHILIP FRENEAU BARNEY'S INVITATION by PHILIP FRENEAU ON THE DEATH OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN by PHILIP FRENEAU ON THE EMIGRATION TO AMERICA AND PEOPLING WESTERN COUNTRY by PHILIP FRENEAU ON THE MEMORABLE VICTORY OF PAUL JONES by PHILIP FRENEAU ON THE RUINS OF A COUNTRY INN by PHILIP FRENEAU |
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