Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816)
If a Daughter you have
1If a daughter you have, she's the plague of your life,
2No peace shall you know, tho' you've buried your wife,
3At twenty she mocks at the duty you taught her,
4O, what a plague is an obstinate daughter.
5 Sighing and whining,
6 Dying and pining,
7O, what a plague is an obstinate daughter.
8When scarce in their teens, they have wit to perplex us,
9With letters and lovers for ever they vex us,
10While each still rejects the fair suitor you've brought her,
11O, what a plague is an obstinate daughter.
12 Wrangling and jangling,
13 Flouting and pouting,
14O, what a plague is an obstinate daughter.
Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.
Original text: Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Songs, duets, trios, &c. in The Duenna (London: J. Wilkie and T. Evans, 1775), Act I, scene iii.
First publication date:
1775
RPO poem editor: N. J. Endicott
RP edition: 2RP.1.777; RPO 1996-2000.
Recent editing: 2:2002/3/27
Rhyme: aabbccb
Other poems by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
