Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE GRAND MATCH, by NESTA HIGGINSON SKRINE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE GRAND MATCH, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dennis was hearty when dennis was young
Last Line: An' the tongue of the woman that owns him.
Alternate Author Name(s): O'neill, Moira


Dennis was hearty when Dennis was young,
High was his step in the jig that he sprung,
He had the looks an' the sootherin' tongue,--
An' he wanted a girl wid a fortune.

Nannie was grey-eyed, an' Nannie was tall,
Fair was the face hid inundher her shawl,
Troth! an' he liked her the best o' them all,--
But she'd not a traneen to her fortune.

He be to look out for a likelier match,
So he married a girl that was counted a catch,
An' as ugly as need be, the dark little patch,--
But that was a trifle, he tould her.

She brought him her good-lookin' gold to admire,
She brought him her good-lookin' cows to his byre,
But, far from good-lookin' she sat by his fire,--
And paid him that "trifle" he tould her.

He met pretty Nan when a month had gone by,
An' he thought, like a fool, to get round her he'd try,
Wid a smile on her lip and a spark in her eye,
She said, "How is the woman that owns ye?"

Och, never be tellin' the life that he's led!
Sure many's the night that he'll wish himself dead,
For the sake of two eyes in a pretty girl's head,--
An' the tongue of the woman that owns him.





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