 | The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") |  |
GRANDFATHER'S TALK.
Days of romance have gone forever;
Gone are the olden dreams and trances:
Love is no longer worth the endeavor;
Nothing I care for witching glances.
Gone are the olden dreams and trances:
Love is no longer worth the endeavor;
Nothing I care for witching glances.
Passion is now an island lonely—
Bordered the shore with dangerous breakers;
Trees I regard for timber only;
Value of meads I gauge by acres.
Bordered the shore with dangerous breakers;
Trees I regard for timber only;
Value of meads I gauge by acres.
Bright is the wine and clear and ruddy—
Love is a sham, the glass is real,
Pocketbook filled, the book to study,
Plenty of cash, the true ideal.
Love is a sham, the glass is real,
Pocketbook filled, the book to study,
Plenty of cash, the true ideal.
Give me a chair both wide and easy,
'Noint me all o'er with luxury's chrism,
Now that my breath is scant and wheezy,
Now that I howl with rheumatism.
'Noint me all o'er with luxury's chrism,
Now that my breath is scant and wheezy,
Now that I howl with rheumatism.
499
Phillis is passing by me daily—
Sharp on my ear her thick silk crinkles—
Humming her little love-song gayly,
Nothing she cares for age and wrinkles.
Sharp on my ear her thick silk crinkles—
Humming her little love-song gayly,
Nothing she cares for age and wrinkles.
Idle regret, the chief of dear sins,
Closer it clings than any other;
Therefore I pine that fifty years since
Lost I the one she calls grandmother.
Closer it clings than any other;
Therefore I pine that fifty years since
Lost I the one she calls grandmother.
Phillis her head holds up as she did,
When I implored her and she chid me;
Had I been rich I had succeeded—
Gold in my rival's purse outbid me.
When I implored her and she chid me;
Had I been rich I had succeeded—
Gold in my rival's purse outbid me.
O, what a blow! awhile I wandered,
Talked about dying love's poor martyr;
Sighs by the quart I reckless squandered;
Treasured my Chloe's cast-off garter.
Talked about dying love's poor martyr;
Sighs by the quart I reckless squandered;
Treasured my Chloe's cast-off garter.
Vanished my grief in old-time fashion,
Others I met with, fair and showy;
What if I felt no ardent passion?
Helen was richer far than Chloe.
Others I met with, fair and showy;
What if I felt no ardent passion?
Helen was richer far than Chloe.
Speedily died the old love's embers;
Comfort I found in cash she brought me;
Harry his grandame well remembers;
Little he knows her money caught me.
Comfort I found in cash she brought me;
Harry his grandame well remembers;
Little he knows her money caught me.
Harry's engaged to Phillis: she is
Plighted to Harry; so, among folk
Whimsical Fate with changes free is;
Here's to their luck—the loving young folk!
Plighted to Harry; so, among folk
Whimsical Fate with changes free is;
Here's to their luck—the loving young folk!
500
Odd, is it not; a kind of thrill is
Shaking my frame. When these two marry,
Grandfather, I, to him and Phillis,
Chloe, a grandame to her and Harry.
Shaking my frame. When these two marry,
Grandfather, I, to him and Phillis,
Chloe, a grandame to her and Harry.
Pledge me again! We all die one day,
Be it in Spring's or Winter's weather.
When the young couple wed on Monday,
Chloe and I will laugh together.
Be it in Spring's or Winter's weather.
When the young couple wed on Monday,
Chloe and I will laugh together.
| The select poems of Dr. Thomas Dunn English (exclusive of the "Battle lyrics") | |