Poem by Thomas Hardy

The Dolls

‘Whenever you dress me dolls, mammy,
Why do you dress them so,
And make them gallant soldiers,
When never a one I know;
And not as gentle ladies
With frills and frocks and curls,
As people dress the dollies
Of other little girls?’

Ah – why did she not answer: –
‘Because your mammy’s heed
Is always gallant soldiers,
As well may be, indeed.
One of them was your daddy,
His name I must not tell;
He’s not the dad who lives here,
But one I love too well.’

1. The Woman in the Rye
2. When Oats Were Reaped
3. The Wind’s Prophecy
4. Meditations on a Holiday
5. The Sun’s Last Look on the Country Girl

William Yeats The Dolls ("A doll in the doll-maker's house")

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