If a Daughter you have

If a Daughter you have

Original Text
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Songs, duets, trios, &c. in The Duenna (London: J. Wilkie and T. Evans, 1775), Act I, scene iii.
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.
Publication Start Year
1775
RPO poem Editors
N. J. Endicott
RPO Edition
2RP.1.777; RPO 1996-2000.
Rhyme