Classic and Contemporary Poetry
SOLILOQUY OF A MAIDEN AUNT, by DOLLIE CAROLINE MAITLAND RADFORD Poet's Biography First Line: The ladies bow, and partners set Last Line: Than when I wore it. Alternate Author Name(s): Radford, Ernest, Mrs. Subject(s): Aunts; Dancing & Dancers; Spinsters; Old Maids | ||||||||
The ladies bow, and partners set, And turn around and pirouette And trip the Lancers. But no one seeks my amble chair, Or asks me with persuasive air To join the dancers. They greet me, as I sit alone Upon my solitary throne, And pass politely. Yet mine could keep the measured beat, As surely as the youngest feet, And tread as lightly. No other maiden had my skill In our homestead on the hill -- That merry May-time When Allan closed the flagging ball, And danced with me before them all, Until the day-time. Again I laugh, and step alone, And curtsey low as my own His strong hand closes. When Allan now seeks staid delight, His son there, brought my niece to-night These early roses. Time orders well, we have our Spring, Our songs, and may-flower gathering, Our love and laughter. And children chatter all the while, And leap the brook and climb the stile And follow after. And yet -- the step of Allan's son, Is not as light as was the one That went before it. And that old lace, I think, falls down Less softly on Priscilla's gown Than when I wore it. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONG OF A SPINSTER by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON EMILY HARDCASTLE, SPINSTER by JOHN CROWE RANSOM SOME FOREIGN LETTERS by ANNE SEXTON PASSPORT BLUES by MALCOLM COWLEY A SPINSTER'S STINT by ALICE CARY MY AUNT by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES MEZZO CAMMIN by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW TO MY CHILDREN: 3 by DOLLIE CAROLINE MAITLAND RADFORD |
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