Portia's Lover
'Twas quite the dreary evening past,
When Portia, breathless, came at last
Through rain and wind with quite the flair,
To fix her somewhat dampened hair.
She made the parlor warm and bright,
(Though Mother would have died of fright
To see her muddy boots upon
The Persian rug she stepped upon!)
She sat beside me, all aflutter,
"My dearest love," I heard her mutter,
"Your gloves are placed on different chairs,
Your books are strewn upon the stairs!"
She sought to tidy as she spoke,
While I, in silence, nearly broke
From holding back my mirth to see
Her try to organize my tea.
No strangulation did I plot,
Instead, I watched her clean my lot,
Her red hair tied neat and prim,
Her manner proper, quite in trim.
"My love," said I, "pray leave the dust,
These books arranged just so are must!"
But no - she'd set my chamber straight,
And thus sealed her domestic fate.
The truth be told, I loved her more
For leaving order where before
Chaos reigned supreme and wild -
(Though mother's rules she had defiled
By visiting alone at night -
A most improper oversight!)
And so we sat, quite properly,
And shared a pot of Earl Grey tea.
The moral of this tale, you see,
Is not of love's dark tragedy,
But rather how a lady fair
Can conquer through domestic care.
Though Browning's tale might end in strife,
I rather thought she'd make good wife -
And so I offered her my hand,
The tidiest match in all the land!
Font size:
Written on March 09, 2023
Submitted on February 26, 2025
- 1:29 min read
- 325 Views
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | AABBCCDD EEFFGGHH IIJJKKLL MMXACCHH HHBBNNOO |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 1,410 |
| Words | 294 |
| Stanzas | 5 |
| Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Portia's Lover" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 22 Mar. 2025. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/215832/portia's-lover>.
Powered by CITE.ME
Discuss the poem Portia's Lover with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In