Earl Norman and John Truman by Charles Mackay. Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. 1895. A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895

Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Earl Norman and John Truman

Charles Mackay (1814–89)


THROUGH great Earl Norman’s acres wide,
A prosperous and a good land,
’T will take you fifty miles to ride
O’er grass, and corn, and woodland.
His age is sixty-nine, or near,	5
And I ’m scarce twenty-two, man,
And have but fifty pounds a year,—
Poor John Truman!
But would I change? I’ faith! not I,
Oh no! not I, says Truman!	10

Earl Norman dwells in halls of state,
The grandest in the county;
Has forty cousins at his gate,
To feed upon his bounty.
But then he ’s deaf—the doctors’ care,	15
While I in whispers woo, man,
And find my physic in the air,—
Stout John Truman!
D ’ye think I ’d change for thrice his gold?
Oh no! not I, says Truman!	20

Earl Norman boasts a gartered knee,
A proof of royal graces;
I wear, by Nelly wrought for me,
A silken pair of braces.
He sports a star upon his breast,	25
And I a violet blue, man,—
The gift of her who loves me best,
Proud John Truman!
I ’d be myself, and not the Earl,
Oh, that would I, says Truman.	30