Classic and Contemporary Poetry
FROM OUR EMANCIPATED AUNT IN TOWN, by DOLLIE CAROLINE MAITLAND RADFORD Poet's Biography First Line: All has befallen as I say Last Line: And send her greetings. Alternate Author Name(s): Radford, Ernest, Mrs. Subject(s): Aunts | ||||||||
ALL has befallen as I say, The old regime has passed away, And quite a new one Is being fashioned in a fire, The fervours of whose burning tire And quite undo one. The fairy prince has passed from sight, Away into the ewigkeit, With best intention I served him, as you know my dears, Unfalteringly through more years Than ladies mention. And though the fairy prince has gone, With all the props I leaned upon, And I am stranded, With old ideals blown away, And all opinions, in the fray, Long since disbanded. And though he's only left to me, Of course quite inadvertently, The faintest glimmer Of humour, to illume my way, I'm thankful he has had his day, His shine and shimmer. Le roi est mort -- but what's to come? -- Surcharged the air is with the hum Of startling changes, And our great "question" is per force The vital one, o'er what a course It boldly ranges! Strange gentlemen to me express At quiet "at homes" their willingness, To ease our fetters And ladies, in a fleeting car, Will tell me that the moderns are My moral betters. My knees I know are much too weak To mount the high and shaky peak Of latest ethics, I'm tabulated, and I stand By evolution, in a band Of poor pathetics Who cannot go alone, who cling To many a worn out tottering thing Of a convention; To many a prejudice and hope, And to the old proverbial rope Of long dimension. It is to you to whom I look To beautify our history book, For coming readers, To you my nieces, who must face Our right and wrong, and take your place As future leaders. And I, meanwhile, shall still pursue All that is weird and wild and new, In song and ballet, In lecture, drama, verse and prose, With every cult that comes and goes Your aunt will dally. A microscopic analyst Of female hearts, she will subsist On queerest notions, And subtlest views of maid and wife Ever engaged in deadly strife With the emotions. But while you walk, and smile at her, In quiet lanes, which you prefer To public meetings, Remember she prepares your way, With many another Aunt to-day, And send her greetings. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MY MOTHER'S SISTER by CECIL DAY LEWIS THE PHOTO OF EMILY by LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI THE GREAT AUNTS OF MY CHILDHOOD by ALICE FULTON IF GOD WON'T TAKE ME WHY WON'T THE DEVIL?'; GREAT-GREAT-AUNT LEONORA by NAOMI SHIHAB NYE TO MY CHILDREN: 3 by DOLLIE CAROLINE MAITLAND RADFORD |
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