Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


JEN by JOHN COLMAN EVANS

First Line: FIFTEEN LONG YEARS I THINK IT WAS THAT JEN
Last Line: AND SUE AND JIM WERE MARRIED THE NEXT WEEK.
Subject(s): MAN-WOMAN RELATIONSHIPS; MALE-FEMALE RELATIONS;

Fifteen long years I think it was that Jen
And Jim had slaved to grub some kind of bare
Existence from their starved, old farm out there;
And Jen said, oh, she'd never cared, and men
Were never made as good as Jim; but when
Her sister wrote she'd like to try to share
The hardships some, why, you knew Jen did care;
She cried just like a tiny girl again.

So Sue came, and was more outdoors with Jim
Than in the house with Jen. Then one night, still
And breathlessly, Jen died; and without hymn
Or prayer, they took her out beyond the hill
To some lone, nameless grave across the creek;
And Sue and Jim were married the next week.



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