Betty has dolls that can almost talk And dolls that can roll their eyes And dolls which, wound with a key, will walk But the one that she seems to prize, The one that she holds supremely dear And constantly packs about Has a broken nose, and a battered ear And half of the sawdust out. She keeps the others in solemn state And plays with them more or less But treats them all in a way sedate And keeps them in party dress; But the broken dolly—aren't children queer?— She hugs to her baby breast, The doll with the broken nose and ear Is the one that she loves the best. And maybe that is the reason why A woman will fondly cling To the sort of a man whom the world may eye As a broken and useless thing; She'll stick through many a hopeless year To a weak and a wastrel lout, With a crippled soul and a smashed career And half of the sawdust out! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE NILE by JAMES HENRY LEIGH HUNT PICTURES FROM APPLEDORE: 1 by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL COMPOSED BY THE SEA-SIDE NEAR CALAIS [AUGUST 1802] by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH A CONCLUSORIE HUMNE TO THE SAME WEEK; & FOR MY FRIEND by JOSEPH BEAUMONT BLESSINGS by PIERRE JEAN DE BERANGER |