Fugitive Poetry. 1600–1878/Would You Choose a Wife
Would You Choose a Wife.
Would you choose a wife for a happy life;
Leave the court, and the country take,
Where Susan and Doll, and Nancy and Moll,
Follow Harry and John, whilst harvest goes on,
And merrily, merrily rake.
Leave the court, and the country take,
Where Susan and Doll, and Nancy and Moll,
Follow Harry and John, whilst harvest goes on,
And merrily, merrily rake.
Leave the London dames—be it spoke to their shames—
To lie in their beds till noon,
Then get up and stretch, then paint, too, and patch,
Some widgeon to catch, then look to their watch,
And wonder they rose up so soon.
To lie in their beds till noon,
Then get up and stretch, then paint, too, and patch,
Some widgeon to catch, then look to their watch,
And wonder they rose up so soon.
Then coffee and tea, both green and bohea,
Is served to their tables in plate;
Where their tattles do run as swift as the sun,
Of what they have won, and who is undone,
By their gaming and sitting up late.
Is served to their tables in plate;
Where their tattles do run as swift as the sun,
Of what they have won, and who is undone,
By their gaming and sitting up late.
The lass give me here, though brown as my beer,
That knows how to govern her house;
That can milk her cow, or farrow her sow,
Make butter or cheese, or gather green peas,
And values fine clothes not a sous.
That knows how to govern her house;
That can milk her cow, or farrow her sow,
Make butter or cheese, or gather green peas,
And values fine clothes not a sous.
This is the girl, worth rubies and pearl;
This is the wife that will make a man rich:
We gentlemen need no quality breed
To squander away what taxes would pay,
In troth we care for none such.
About 1740.
This is the wife that will make a man rich:
We gentlemen need no quality breed
To squander away what taxes would pay,
In troth we care for none such.
About 1740.