The three tours of Doctor Syntax In search of 1. The picturesque, 2. Of consolation, 3. Of a wife. The text complete. [By William Combe] With four illustrations |
 |
 |
|
| I. |
| II. |
| III. |
| IV. |
| V. |
| VI. |
| VII. |
|
 | The three tours of Doctor Syntax |  |
“I next became the favour'd swain Of sober and of gentle Jane,
Whom, with ten thousand pounds, I led
Well pleas'd to share my marriage bed.
She could not boast the pride of beauty,
But then she felt the housewife's duty:
She was, indeed, a darling honey,
Who lov'd me well and sav'd my money;
In ev'ry useful, household care, She bore a more than equal share:—
To scold the servants she was free, But then she never scolded me.
Though she was careful, she was good,
And lov'd by all the neighbourhood:
Though foe to every vain expense, She nourish'd a benevolence
Which aided the industrious poor, And fed the hungry at her door.
At length she bore me children twain;
But which I still relate with pain,
When procreative nature stirr'd Its innate powers to give a third,
She, with the child, her new-born pride
At morning's dawn, ere evening died.
Whom, with ten thousand pounds, I led
Well pleas'd to share my marriage bed.
She could not boast the pride of beauty,
But then she felt the housewife's duty:
She was, indeed, a darling honey,
Who lov'd me well and sav'd my money;
In ev'ry useful, household care, She bore a more than equal share:—
To scold the servants she was free, But then she never scolded me.
Though she was careful, she was good,
And lov'd by all the neighbourhood:
Though foe to every vain expense, She nourish'd a benevolence
Which aided the industrious poor, And fed the hungry at her door.
At length she bore me children twain;
But which I still relate with pain,
When procreative nature stirr'd Its innate powers to give a third,
She, with the child, her new-born pride
At morning's dawn, ere evening died.
| The three tours of Doctor Syntax | |