WHEN LOVELY WOMAN: 26 word poem-- winner

WHEN LOVELY WOMAN.....


When Oliver Goldsmith wrote his poem,
Which starts like this: "When Lovely Woman Stoops",
He had in mind, of course, youth of those days,
Who in silence did quiver when love failed.

The maiden in that poem takes her life
When instead of honey and daffodil,
Her love lands her in an endless abyss,
No candle to light, no key to get out.

Even the semblance of a fig leaf she,
Did not have that might cover up her shame,
Her only cover, the vile nettle leaf,
Was full of sting that did increase her pain.

Her woes were probably further heightened,
Hearing the melodious blackbird sing.
But today's ladies' insignia has
Changed through a zigzag path with time's passage.

Grandfather or granny's advice they shun.
Like jealous rabble rousers they behave.
Their x-ray eyes find umbra everywhere.
They are at war with flora and fauna.

With much guile their secretive plots they hatch.
They get their venison in every thatch.


• Written in pentameter

• Goldsmith's poem referred above can be viewed at http://www.bartleby.com/101/467.html. A parody based on it can be viewed at {item: 733627}, FAILURE IN LOVE.

• Third place winner in the "The A-2-Z Contest", "Invalid Item" , Round 4, hosted by Suze the Rock Chic , where the prompt was to build a poem using 26 given words, each starting from A to Z. The 26 words that had to be used are indicated below in capitals.
***


When OLIVER Goldsmith wrote his poem,
Which starts like this: "When Lovely Woman Stoops",
He had in mind, of course, YOUTH of those days,
Who in SILENCE did QUIVER when love failed.

The MAIDEN in that poem takes her life,
When instead of HONEY and DAFFODIL,
Her love lands her in an ENDLESS ABYSS,
No CANDLE to light, no KEY to get out.


Even the semblance of a fig LEAF she,
Did not have that might cover up her shame,
Her only cover, the vile NETTLE leaf,
Was full of sting that did increase her pain.


Her woes were probably further heightened,
Hearing the melodious BLACKBIRD sing.
But today's ladies' INSIGNIA has
Changed through a ZIGZAG path with time's PASSAGE.

GRANDFATHER or granny's advice they shun.
Like JEALOUS RABBLE rousers they behave.
Their X-RAY eyes find UMBRA everywhere.
They are at WAR with flora and FAUNA.

With much guile their secretive plots they hatch.
They get their VENISON in every THATCH.


M C Gupta
20 March 2008