WE'VE had about a thousand maids, who worked for us for wages; they cleaned the floors and window shades, and cooked, by easy stages. And ever and anon they'd quit; their time had come to marry; and Grace would wed her smiling Kit, and Jane would wed her Harry. And I felt sorry for the groom, whene'er there was a wedding; when matrimony lost its bloom, he'd find some rocky sledding. Of all the thousand girls we've hired, not one was truly saving; economy would make them tired, and sometimes set them raving. It was the same with Beryl Maud, with Susan and with Sally; they'd roll things up into a wad, and throw them in the alley. They wasted succotash and steak, as good as you have tasted; they wasted pudding, pie and cake, and all that could be wasted. They wasted soap, they wasted soup, and did it all with jesting, and didn't seem to care a whoop for wailing or protesting. So when they go away to wed, I weep for those they marry, for Clarence, William, Stephen, Fred, Adolphus, James and Harry. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON THE DAY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM BY TITUS by GEORGE GORDON BYRON ON A FLOWER FROM THE FIELD OF GRUTLI by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS THE MARYLAND BATTALION [AUGUST 27, 1776] by JOHN WILLIAMSON PALMER WRITTEN IN IRELAND by MARY (CUMBERLAND) ALCOCK LAURENCE BLOOMFIELD IN IRELAND: 7. MIDSUMMER by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE: 16 by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING |