The Poetry Corner

Marie

By John Kendall (Dum-Dum)

In Several Keys We hear the opening refrain, Marie! We thought so; here you are again, Marie! A simple tune, in simple thirds, Beloved of after-dinner birds; A legend, self-condemned as 'words,' Marie! She lingers by the flowing tide, Marie; A 'fisher-lad' is close beside Marie; He gazes in her 'eyes so blue'; Marie, Marie, my heart is true; And then, - you do, you know you do, Marie! - But vain is every mortal wish, Marie; And 'fisher-lads' have got to fish, Marie; O blinding tears! O cheeks 'so' wet! Marie, I come again! And yet I shouldn't feel disposed to bet, Marie! A tempest drives across the wave, Marie; With triplets in the treble stave, Marie; The player pounds. With bulging eyes Th' excited vocalist replies; The maddened octaves drown his cries, Marie! The storm is past. We hear again, Marie, The simple thirds, the waltz refrain, Marie; We only see some drifting wrack, An empty bunk, a battered smack, Alas! Alas!! Alack!!! Alack!!!! Marie! O good old words, O 'tears that rise,' Marie! O good young fisher-lad that dies, Marie! We leave you on the lonely shore; - You wave your hands for evermore, A bleak, disgusted semaphore, Marie!