 | The White Pilgrim and Other Poems |  |
171
MATILDA.
Shall I fret and fume and swear,
Because Matilda dyes her hair?
Or make pale my cheeks with care,
That hers so very rosy are?
Though her raven locks to-day
Turn as yellow as the hay,
If she be but true to me,
What care I how blonde she be!
Because Matilda dyes her hair?
Or make pale my cheeks with care,
That hers so very rosy are?
Though her raven locks to-day
Turn as yellow as the hay,
If she be but true to me,
What care I how blonde she be!
Shall a woman's weakness move
Me such weakness to reprove?
Or her little failings known
Make me careless of my own?
Though her bills be longer than
Bill of duck or pelican,
If they be not paid by me,
What care I how long they be?
Me such weakness to reprove?
Or her little failings known
Make me careless of my own?
Though her bills be longer than
Bill of duck or pelican,
If they be not paid by me,
What care I how long they be?
If her youth be left behind,
Shall I play the fool and mind?
She must be, the women say,
Forty-five if she's a day—
But I swear she looks no more,
At the most, than forty-four:
If she's young enough for me,
What care I how old she be?
Shall I play the fool and mind?
She must be, the women say,
Forty-five if she's a day—
172
At the most, than forty-four:
If she's young enough for me,
What care I how old she be?
Be she painted, fast, or old—
Be she flirt, or rake, or scold—
She has cash enough to make
Me submissive for her sake:
If she lose her money, though,
I can scorn and let her go;
If in poverty she be,
She may go to Bath for me!
Be she flirt, or rake, or scold—
She has cash enough to make
Me submissive for her sake:
If she lose her money, though,
I can scorn and let her go;
If in poverty she be,
She may go to Bath for me!
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