The Poetry Corner

Our Minds Are Married, But We Are Too Young

By George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair)

Our minds are married, but we are too young For wedlock by the customs of this age When parent homes pen each in separte cage And only supper-earning songs are sung. Times past, when medieval woods were green, Babes were betrothed, and that betrothal brief. Remember Romeo in love and grief Those star-crossed lovers, Juliet was fourteen. Times past, the caveman by his new-found fire Rested beside his mate in woodsmokes scent. By our own fireside we shall rest content Fifty years hence keep troth with hearts desire. We shall remember, when our hair is white, These clouded days revealed in radiant light.