Say Goodbye when your Chum is Married

Henry Lawson 1867 (Grenfell) – 1922 (Sydney)



Now this is a rhyme that might well be carried
Gummed in your hat till the end of things:
Say Good-bye when your chum is married;
Say Good-bye while the church-bell rings;
Say Good-bye—if you ask why must you,
’Tis for the sake of old friendship true,
For as sure as death will his wife distrust you
And lead him on to suspect you, too.
Say Good-bye, though he be a brother,
Seek him not when you’re married, too—
Things that you never would tell each other
The wives will carry as young wives do.
Say Good-bye ere their tongues shall strangle
The friendship pledged ere the lights grew dim,
For, as sure as death, will those young wives wrangle,
And drag you into it, you and him.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

39 sec read
47

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABCCCCDCDCEFEF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 683
Words 130
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 16

Henry Lawson

Henry Lawson 17 June 1867 - 2 September 1922 was an Australian writer and poet Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period more…

All Henry Lawson poems | Henry Lawson Books

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    "Say Goodbye when your Chum is Married" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/17907/say-goodbye-when-your-chum-is-married>.

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