Upton Sinclair, ed. (1878–1968). rn The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest. 1915.

Northern Farmer: New Style

Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron

Alfred Tennyson

(Probably the most popular of English lyrical poets; 1809–1892. Made Poet-laureate in 1850, and a baron in 1884)

DOSN’T thou ’ear my ’erse’s legs, as they canters awaäy,

Proputty, proputty, proputty—that’s what I ’ears ’em saäy.

Proputty, proputty, proputty—Sam, thou’s an ass for thy paäins,

Theer’s moor sense i’ one o’ ’is legs nor in all thy braäins.

Me an’ thy muther, Sammy, ’as beän a-talkin’ o’ thee;

Thou’s beän talkin’ to muther, an’ she beän a tellin’ it me.

Thou’ll not marry for munny—thou’s sweet upo’ parson’s lass—

Noä—thou’ll marry for luvv—an’ we boäth on us thinks tha an ass.

Seeä’d her todaäy goä by—Saäint’s daäy—they was ringing the bells.

She’s a beauty thou thinks—an’ soä is scoors o’ gells,

Them as ’as munny an’ all—wot’s a beauty?—the flower as blaws.

But proputty, proputty sticks, an’ proputty, proputty graws.

Doänt’t be stunt: taäke time: I knaws what maäkes tha sa mad.

Warn’t I craäzed fur the lasses mysén when I wur a lad?

But I knaw’d a Quaäker feller as often ’as towd ma this: “Doän’t thou marry for munny, but goä wheer munny is!”