Poem by Dorothy Parker

Guinevere at Her Fireside

A nobler king had never breath-
 I say it now, and said it then.
Who weds with such is wed till death
 And wedded stays in Heaven. Amen.

(And oh, the shirts of linen-lawn,
 And all the armor, tagged and tied,
And church on Sundays, dusk and dawn.
 And bed a thing to kneel beside!)

The bravest one stood tall above
 The rest, and watched me as a light.
I heard and heard them talk of love;
 I'd naught to do but think, at night.

The bravest man has littlest brains;
 That chalky fool from Astolat
With all her dying and her pains!-
 Thank God, I helped him over that.

I found him not unfair to see-
 I like a man with peppered hair!
And thus it came about. Ah, me,
 Tristram was busied otherwhere….

A nobler king had never breath-
 I say it now, and said it then.
Who weds with such is wed till death
 And wedded stays in Heaven. Amen.

1. The Veteran
2. Ultimatum
3. Day-Dreams
4. Interview
5. Renunciation

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