Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/468
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CELIBACY VERSUS MATRIMONY.
The name of box I therefore dread,
I've had so many shocks;
They'll never end; for when I'm dead
They'll nail me in a box.
I've had so many shocks;
They'll never end; for when I'm dead
They'll nail me in a box.
Celibacy Versus Matrimony.
"My bane and antidote are both before me."—Addison.
Bachelor's Fare.
Frequently whining, and always repining,
Vexed and perplexed at not having a wife,
Thinking to marry, decided to tarry,
So pass the days of a bachelor's life.
His mind ever ranging, unconstant and changing,
It's fraught with anxiety, trouble, and care,
And fed with vain wishes, poor pitiful dishes!
But most that's delicious in bachelor's fare.
Vexed and perplexed at not having a wife,
Thinking to marry, decided to tarry,
So pass the days of a bachelor's life.
His mind ever ranging, unconstant and changing,
It's fraught with anxiety, trouble, and care,
And fed with vain wishes, poor pitiful dishes!
But most that's delicious in bachelor's fare.
How cheerless and lonely is he that has only
Himself to have thoughts for, himself to maintain:
No one to regale him when sorrows assail him,
And none to bewail him in sickness and pain!
Though marriage brings trouble, its comforts are double,
As all happy husbands can truly declare,
To all that the single state ever did arrogate,
Hence do we reprobate bachelor's fare.
Himself to have thoughts for, himself to maintain:
No one to regale him when sorrows assail him,
And none to bewail him in sickness and pain!
Though marriage brings trouble, its comforts are double,
As all happy husbands can truly declare,
To all that the single state ever did arrogate,
Hence do we reprobate bachelor's fare.
Who call women evils, new, old, or blue devils,
Convince one they're acting the comic part o'er
Of the fox in the fable, which not being able
To pluck and to suck the sweet grapes, calls them sour!
To love a sweet creature with grace in each feature,
Not even a bachelor's self can forbear;
But such to neglect, and fain to reject,
Those fools may expect that want bachelor's fare.
Convince one they're acting the comic part o'er
Of the fox in the fable, which not being able
To pluck and to suck the sweet grapes, calls them sour!
To love a sweet creature with grace in each feature,
Not even a bachelor's self can forbear;
But such to neglect, and fain to reject,
Those fools may expect that want bachelor's fare.
It can't be denied that sometimes wives will chide,
As they ought when they see there's occasion;
And those who do blame them for this, and defame them,
Deserve a severe flagellation:
To have an adviser each day growing wiser,
A true bosom friend, is the married man's share;
But though 'tis distressing and spirit depressing,
To lack this great blessing is bachelor's fare.
As they ought when they see there's occasion;
And those who do blame them for this, and defame them,
Deserve a severe flagellation:
To have an adviser each day growing wiser,
A true bosom friend, is the married man's share;
But though 'tis distressing and spirit depressing,
To lack this great blessing is bachelor's fare.