The Poetry Corner

Clown's Courtship, The

By Unknown

Quoth John to Joan, will thou have me; I prithee now, wilt? and I'll marry thee, My cow, my calf, my house, my rents, And all my lands and tenements: Oh, say, my Joan, will not that do? I cannot come every day to woo. I've corn and hay in the barn hardby, And three fat hogs pent up in the sty, I have a mare and she is coal black, I ride on her tail to save my back. Then say, etc. I have a cheese upon the shelf, And I cannot eat it all myself; I've three good marks that lie in a rag, In a nook of the chimney, instead of a bag. Then say, etc. To marry I would have thy consent, But faith I never could compliment; I can say nought but "Hoy, gee ho!" Words that belong to the cart and the plough. So say, my Joan, will not that do, I cannot come every day to woo.