Wapping Old Stairs



'Your Molly has never been false, she declares,
Since the last time we parted at Wapping Old Stairs;
When I said that I would continue the same,
And I gave you the 'bacco-box marked with my name.
When I passed a whole fortnight between decks with you,
Did I e'er give a kiss, Tom, to one of your crew?
To be useful and kind to my Thomas I stay'd,
For his trousers I washed, and his grog too I made.

Though you promised last Sunday to walk in the Mall
With Susan from Deptford and likewise with Sall,
In silence I stood your unkindness to hear
And only upbraided my Tom with a tear.
Why should Sall, or should Susan, than me be more prized?
For the heart that is true, Tom, should ne'er be despised;
Then be constant and kind, nor your Molly forsake,
Still your trousers I'll wash and your grog too I'll make.'

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

48 sec read
118

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCDD EEXXFFGG
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 802
Words 159
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8

William Makepeace Thackeray

William Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. more…

All William Makepeace Thackeray poems | William Makepeace Thackeray Books

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