Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE IRISHMAN AND THE LADY, by WILLIAM MAGINN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE IRISHMAN AND THE LADY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: There was a lady lived at leith
Last Line: Irishman.


THERE was a lady lived at Leith,
A lady very stylish, man;
And yet, in spite of all her teeth,
She fell in love with an Irishman --
A nasty, ugly Irishman,
A wild, tremendous Irishman,
A tearing, swearing, thumping, bumping, ranting,
roaring Irishman.

His face was no ways beautiful.
For with small-pox 't was scarred across;
And the shoulders of the ugly dog
Were almost double a yard across.
Oh, the lump of an Irishman,
The whiskey-devouring Irishman,
The great he-rogue with his wonderful brogue --
the fighting, rioting Irishman.

One of his eyes was bottle-green,
And the other eye was out, my dear;
And the calves of his wicked-looking legs
Were more than two feet about, my dear.
Oh, the great big Irishman,
The rattling, battling Irishman --
The stamping, ramping, swaggering, staggering,
leathering swash of an Irishman

He took so much of Lundy-foot
That he used to snort and snuffle -- O!
And in shape and size the fellow's neck
Was as bad as the neck of a buffalo.
Oh, the horrible Irishman,
The thundering, blundering Irishman --
The slashing, dashing, smashing, lashing, thrash-
ing, hashing Irishman.

His name was a terrible name, indeed,
Being Timothy Thady Mulligan;
And whenever he emptied his tumbler of punch
He'd not rest till he filled it full again.
The boozing, bruising Irishman,
The 'toxicated Irishman --
The whiskey, frisky, rummy, gummy, brandy, no
dandy Irishman.

This was the lad the lady loved,
Like all the girls of quality;
And he broke the skulls of the men of Leith,
Just by the way of jollity.
Oh, the leathering Irishman,
The barbarous, savage Irishman --
The hearts of the maids, and the gentlemen's
heads, were bothered I'm sure by this
Irishman.




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