On a Wife
On a Wife
Original Text
The Olio: being a Collection of Essays, Dialogues, Letters, Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes, Pieces of Poetry, Parodies, Bon Mots, Epigrams, Epitaphs, &c. Chiefly Original. By the Late Francis Grose (London: S. Hooper, 1792): 301-02. 7720.d.685 Cambridge University Library
2Liv'd man and wife together;
3I could no longer keep her here,
4She's gone the Lord knows whither.
5Of tongue she was exceeding free,
6I purpose not to flatter;
7Of all the wives that e'er I see,
8None e'er like her could chatter;
9Her body is disposed well,
10A comely grave doth hide her;
11And sure her soul is not in hell;
12The devil could never abide her;
13Which makes me think she is aloft;
14For in the last great thunder
15Methought I heard her well-known voice
16Rending the clouds asunder.
Notes
1] The editor of The Ohio notes that Grose "made a very large collection of epitaphs; of these the most curious have been selected: a few of the first are apparently of the author's own composing" (300). Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1792
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2002
Rhyme