Robert Graves

Bitter Thoughts on Receiving a Slice of Cordelia's Wedding-Cake

Why have such scores of lovely, gifted girls
 Married impossible men?
Simple self—sacrifice may be ruled out,
 And missionary endeavour, nine times out of ten.
 
Repeat “impossible men”: not merely rustic,
 Foul—tempered or depraved
(Dramatic foils chosen to show the world
 How well women behave, and always have behaved).
 
Impossible men: idle, illiterate,
 Self—pitying, dirty, sly,
For whose appearance even in City parks
 Excuses must be made to casual passers—by.
 
Has God’s supply of tolerable husbands
 Fallen, in fact, so low?
Or do I always over—value woman
 At the expense of man?

Other works by Robert Graves...



Top