Lines Written After A Walk Before Supper

Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1772 (Ottery St Mary) – 1834 (Highgate)



Tho' much averse, dear Jack, to flicker,
To find a likeness for friend V----ker,
I've made, thro' earth, and air, and sea,
A voyage of discovery!
And let me add (to ward off strife)
For V----kers, and for V----kers' wife--
She, large and round, beyond belief,
A superfluity of beef!
Her mind and body of a piece,
And both composed of kitchen-grease.
In short, dame Truth might safely dub her
Vulgarity enshrined in blubber!
He, meagre bit of littleness,
All snuff, and musk, and politesse;
So thin, that strip him of his clothing,
He'd totter on the edge of nothing!
In case of foe, he well might hide
Snug in the collops of her side.
Ah then, what simile will suit?
Spindle leg in great jack-boot?
Pismire crawling in a rut,
Or a spigot in a butt?
Thus I humm'd and ha'd awhile,
When Madam Memory, with a smile,
Thus touched my ear--'Why sure, I ween,
In London streets thou oft hast seen
The very image of this pair:
A little ape, with huge she bear
Linked by hapless chain together:
An unlicked mass the one -- the other
An antic huge with nimble crupper'--
But stop, my Muse! for here comes supper.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 27, 2023

1:03 min read
89

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCDDEEAABBFFGGHHIIJJKKLLAAAA
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,081
Words 205
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 32

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. more…

All Samuel Taylor Coleridge poems | Samuel Taylor Coleridge Books

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    "Lines Written After A Walk Before Supper" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/34277/lines-written-after-a-walk-before-supper>.

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