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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


WEALTH by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH

First Line: I LIKE PRETTY MAIDS FLUSHED WITH JOY
Last Line: AND MY SWEET JOAN HAS ME.
Subject(s): PUBERTY;

I LIKE pretty maids flushed with joy,
With glad hair blowing free.
They smile right kind on many a boy,
But only one on me.
But I have a penny, a fiddle, and Joan,
And my sweet Joan has me.

Meadow and flock, the wise folk said,
It never were right to miss,
But my maid Joan has a kirtle red
And a merry mouth to kiss.
And I can fiddle and Joan can sing,
And what were better than this?

The young men talk of getting and gold,
And lands far over the sea.
But I and my fiddle will never grow old,
And this is the life for me.
I have a penny, my fiddle, and Joan,
And my sweet Joan has me.



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