Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, RHYMES TO W. E. HENLEY (1), by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

RHYMES TO W. E. HENLEY (1), by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear henley, with a pig's snout on
Last Line: To make me uglier than I am.
Alternate Author Name(s): Stevenson, Robert Lewis Balfour
Subject(s): Henley, William Ernest (1849-1903); Sickness; Illness


Dear Henley, with a pig's snout on
I am starting for London,
Where I likely shall arrive
On Saturday, if still alive:
Perhaps your pirate doctor might
See me on Sunday? If all's right,
I should then lunch with you and with she
Who's dearer to you than you are to me.
I shall remain but little time
In London, as a wretched clime,
But not so wretched (for none are)
As that of beastly old Braemar.
My doctor sends me skipping. I
Have many facts to meet your eye.
My pig's snout now upon my face:
And I inhale with fishy grace,
My gills outflapping right and left,
Ol.pin. sylvest. I am bereft
Of a great deal of charm by this --
Not quite the bull's eye for a kiss --
But like the gnome of olden time
Or bogey in a pantomime.
For ladies' love I once was fit,
But now am rather out of it.
Where'er I go, revolted curs
Snap round my military spurs;
The children all retire in fits
And scream their bellowses to bits.
Little I care: the worst's been done:
Now let the cold impoverished sun
Drop frozen from his orbit; let
Fury and fire, cold, wind, and wet,
And cataclysmal mad reverses
Rage through the federate universes;
Let Lawson triumph, cakes and ale,
Whiskey and hock and claret fail;
Tobacco, love, and letters perish,
With all that any man could cherish:
You it may touch, not me. I dwell
Too deep already -- deep in hell;
And nothing can befall, O damn!
To make me uglier than I am.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net