 | New Poems by George Crabbe |  |
To these we add the Vicar and his Wife,
A Man of Cambridge, but of him unseen
These 40 Years! & he would sometimes say,
Vapoured perhaps, or troubled for a Tax,
Or forced to take a twentieth for a Tithe,
Or when his Brother cast upon his Coat
A Look contemptuous, but with Pity blent!
Pride's Tenderness!: “I wish I had not seen.”—
He was an elder Son, whose Father sent
The Boy to Cambridge, & kept John at home.
And John in time was Tenant in the Farm,
And of its Stock the Owner. Dick must pay
For what it cost at College, & has paid,
For he is Vicar in the Place, where John
Is Lord! and governs as an Overseer.
But still he makes his Bow, & gives his Seat,
And says: “My Brother is a Learned Man!
“'Twas my poor Father's Pride, but he cd not
“Afford to make his John a Gentleman.
“Brother, my Service, we are getting poor;
“Come now, abate a little of your Tithe.”
A Man of Cambridge, but of him unseen
These 40 Years! & he would sometimes say,
Vapoured perhaps, or troubled for a Tax,
Or forced to take a twentieth for a Tithe,
Or when his Brother cast upon his Coat
A Look contemptuous, but with Pity blent!
Pride's Tenderness!: “I wish I had not seen.”—
He was an elder Son, whose Father sent
The Boy to Cambridge, & kept John at home.
And John in time was Tenant in the Farm,
And of its Stock the Owner. Dick must pay
For what it cost at College, & has paid,
For he is Vicar in the Place, where John
Is Lord! and governs as an Overseer.
But still he makes his Bow, & gives his Seat,
And says: “My Brother is a Learned Man!
“'Twas my poor Father's Pride, but he cd not
“Afford to make his John a Gentleman.
“Brother, my Service, we are getting poor;
“Come now, abate a little of your Tithe.”
| New Poems by George Crabbe | |