Poems (Millay)/She is Overheard Singing

by Edna St. Vincent Millay

She is Overheard Singing

Oh, Prue she has a patient man,
 And Joan a gentle lover,
And Agatha's Arth' is a hug-the-hearth,—
 But my true love's a rover!

Mig, her man's as good as cheese
 And honest as a briar,
Sue tells her love what he's thinking of,—
 But my dear lad's a liar!

Oh, Sue and Prue and Agatha
 Are thick with Mig and Joan!
They bite their threads and shake their heads
 And gnaw my name like a bone;

And Prue says, "Mine's a patient man,
 As never snaps me up,"
And Agatha, "Arth' is a hug-the-hearth,
 Could live content in a cup;"

Sue's man's mind is like good jell—
 All one colour, and clear—
And Mig's no call to think at all
 What's to come next year,

While Joan makes boast of a gentle lad,
 That's troubled with that and this;—
But they all would give the life they live
 For a look from the man I kiss!

Cold he slants his eyes about,
 And few enough's his choice,—
Though he'd slip me clean for a nun, or a queen,
 Or a beggar with knots in her voice,—

And Agatha will turn awake
 When her good man sleeps sound,
And Mig and Sue and Joan and Prue
 Will hear the clock $trike round;

For Prue she has a patient man,
 As asks not when or why,
And Mig and Sue have naught to do
 But peep who's passing by,

Joan is paired with a putterer
 That bastes and tastes and salts,
And Agatha's Arth' is a hug-the-hearth,—
 But my true love is false!