Mary and I were twenty-two <br /> When we were wed; <br />A well-matched pair, right smart to view <br /> The town's folk said. <br />For twenty years I have been true <br /> To nuptial bed. <br /> <br />But oh alas! The march of time, <br /> Life's wear and tear! <br />Now I am in my lusty prime <br /> With pep to spare, <br />While she looks ten more years than I'm, <br /> With greying hair. <br /> <br />'Twas on our trip dear friends among, <br /> To New Orleans, <br />A stranger's silly trip of tongue <br /> Kiboshed my dreams: <br />I heard her say: 'How very young <br /> His mother seems.' <br /> <br />Child-bearing gets a woman down, <br /> And six had she; <br />Yet now somehow I feel a clown <br /> When she's with me; <br />When cuties smile one cannot frown, <br /> You must agree. <br /> <br />How often I have heard it said: <br /> 'For happy fate, <br />In age a girl ten years ahead <br /> Should choose her mate.' <br />Now twenty years to Mary wed <br /> I know too late.<br /><br />Robert William Service<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/henry/
