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Poem
June 10, 1785
Fowle's New Hampshire Gazette And General Advertiser
Portsmouth, Rockingham County, New Hampshire
What is this article about?
The poem contrasts the lonely, joyless existence of a dry, dull bachelor with the blissful, secure life of a married man, highlighting the moral and emotional rewards of wedlock, free from guilt or ruin.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
The dry, dull, drowsy batchelor surveys
Alternate joyless nights, and lonesome days ;
No tender transports wake his sullen breast :
No soft endearments lull his care to rest.
Stupidly free from nature's tenderest ties ;
Lost in his own sad self he lives and dies.
Not so the man to whom indulgent heaven
That tender bosom friend, a WIFE, has given.
Him blest in her kind arms, no fears dismay,
No secret checks of guilt his joys allay.
No husband wrong'd, no virgin's honor spoil'd,
No tender parent weeps his ruin'd child :
No bad disease, nor false embrace is here ;
The joys are safe, the raptures are sincere.
Does fortune smile how grateful must it prove
To tread life's pleasing round with one we love ;
Or doth it frown, with one whose soft'ning art
Will ease your woe, and bear a willing part.
Alternate joyless nights, and lonesome days ;
No tender transports wake his sullen breast :
No soft endearments lull his care to rest.
Stupidly free from nature's tenderest ties ;
Lost in his own sad self he lives and dies.
Not so the man to whom indulgent heaven
That tender bosom friend, a WIFE, has given.
Him blest in her kind arms, no fears dismay,
No secret checks of guilt his joys allay.
No husband wrong'd, no virgin's honor spoil'd,
No tender parent weeps his ruin'd child :
No bad disease, nor false embrace is here ;
The joys are safe, the raptures are sincere.
Does fortune smile how grateful must it prove
To tread life's pleasing round with one we love ;
Or doth it frown, with one whose soft'ning art
Will ease your woe, and bear a willing part.
What sub-type of article is it?
Satire
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
Marriage Celebration
What keywords are associated?
Bachelor Loneliness
Marriage Bliss
Moral Virtue
Domestic Happiness
Wedded Joy
Poem Details
Form / Style
Rhymed Couplets
Key Lines
The Dry, Dull, Drowsy Batchelor Surveys
Alternate Joyless Nights, And Lonesome Days ;
Not So The Man To Whom Indulgent Heaven
That Tender Bosom Friend, A Wife, Has Given.
The Joys Are Safe, The Raptures Are Sincere.