Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A FIG FOR TRADE by AUSTIN PHILIPS

First Line: A FIG FOR TRADE!' THE MAIDEN SAID
Last Line: A FIG, FOR TRADE!
Subject(s): FOOD & EATING; MERCHANTS; TRADE;
"A FIG for Trade!" the maiden said,
And tossed her fair, but haughty, head,
"Blue blood, blue blood's the thing for me,
"I'll wed with none of mean degree!"
(A Ouida-esque Romance she'd read!)

The Wheel of Time (as usual) sped—
A spinster's life the lady led—
One heard her say less frequently,
"A fig for Trade!"

Then she denied her Gods, to wed
Not Peer, but merchant plain, instead:
His Argo ploughed 'The Midland Sea'
From Smyrna's port to Tripoli,
And brought—'twas thus he earned his bread—
A fig, for Trade!



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