The Menu
Thomas Bailey Aldrich 1836 (Portsmouth) – 1907 (Boston)
I beg you come to-night and dine.
A welcome waits you, and sound wine--
The Roederer chilly to a charm,
As Juno's breath the claret warm,
The sherry of an ancient brand.
No Persian pomp, you understand--
A soup, a fish, two meats, and then
A salad fit for aldermen
(When alderman, alas, the days!
Were really worth their mayonnaise);
A dish of grapes whose clusters won
Their bronze in Carolinian sun;
Next, cheese--for you the Neufchâtel,
A bit of Cheshire likes me well;
Café au lait or coffee black,
With Kirsch or Kümmel or Cognac
(The German band in Irving Place
By this time purple in the face);
Cigars and pipes. These being through,
Friends shall drop in, a very few--
Shakespeare and Milton, and no more.
When these are guests I bolt the door,
With Not at Home to any one
Excepting Alfred Tennyson.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 44 sec read
- 114 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AABCDDEFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMHH |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 818 |
Words | 148 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 24 |
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"The Menu" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/36082/the-menu>.
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