OH, I know a certain woman who is reckoned with the good, But she fills me with more terror than a raging lion would. The little chills run up and down my spine when'er we meet, Though she seems a gentle creature and she's very trim and neat. And she has a thousand virtues and not one acknowledged sin, But she is the sort of person you could liken to a pin, And she pricks you, and she sticks you, in a way that can't be said -- When you seek for what has hurt you, why, you cannot find the head. But she fills you with discomfort and exasperating pain -- If anybody asks you why, you really can't explain. A pin is such a tiny thing, -- of that there is no doubt, -- Yet when it's sticking in your flesh, you're wretched till it's out! She is wonderfully observing -- when she meets a pretty girl She is always sure to tell her if her "bang" is out of curl. And she is so sympathetic: to a friend, who's much admired, She is often heard remarking, "Dear, you look so worn and tired!" And she is a careful critic; for on yesterday she eyed The new dress I was airing with a woman's natural pride, And she said, "Oh, how becoming!" and then softly added, "It Is really a misfortune that the basque is such a fit." Then she said, "If you had heard me yestereve, I'm sure, my friend, You would say I am a champion who knows how to defend." And she left me with the feeling -- most unpleasant, I aver -- That the whole world would despise me if it had not been for her. Whenever I encounter her, in such a nameless way She gives me the impression I am at my worst that day, And the hat that was imported (and that cost me half a sonnet) With just one glance from her round eyes becomes a Bowery bonnet. She is always bright and smiling, sharp and shining for a thrust -- Use does not seem to blunt her point, not does she gather rust -- Oh! I wish some hapless specimen of mankind would begin To tidy up the world for me, by picking up this pin. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE TEARES OF THE MUSES by EDMUND SPENSER GARDEN DAYS: 6. AUTUMN FIRES by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON THE CAPTAIN; A LEGEND OF THE NAVY by ALFRED TENNYSON STAGE SETTING KANSAS by BERNICE GIBBS ANDERSON |