Lovers thrill with rapture fine
When the lady fair to see
Drops the customary line
Swearing life-long constancy,
But romantic ravings tend
Worldly commonsense to vex,
Since delights that far transcend
Cooling foolishness attend
When the postman brings the cheques.
Base I'm held, and sordid too,
Worthy of the lofty scorn
Of the sentimental crew
Watching out at eve and morn,
But I snigger at the flock,
Knowing well that either sex
Still enjoys a keener shock
Summoned by his double knock
When the postman brings the cheques.
Missives that a friend indites
Oft invite a little loan,
Dainty screeds that Sophie writes
When she says she's all our own
Copies are, perchance, no more;
Other fellows may annex
All their treasures o'er and o'er;
No such apprehensions bore
When the postman brings the cheques.
So the lank, lean bards may reel
Tiresome rhymes about the post,
Singing of his "winged heel"
Dragging in a classic host.
Hermes' staff nor Cupid's toy
My prosaic poem decks,
But I know the little boy
Born of Venus shrieks with joy
When the postman brings the cheques.
First published in Melbourne Punch, 11 April 1907
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library
See also.
When the lady fair to see
Drops the customary line
Swearing life-long constancy,
But romantic ravings tend
Worldly commonsense to vex,
Since delights that far transcend
Cooling foolishness attend
When the postman brings the cheques.
Base I'm held, and sordid too,
Worthy of the lofty scorn
Of the sentimental crew
Watching out at eve and morn,
But I snigger at the flock,
Knowing well that either sex
Still enjoys a keener shock
Summoned by his double knock
When the postman brings the cheques.
Missives that a friend indites
Oft invite a little loan,
Dainty screeds that Sophie writes
When she says she's all our own
Copies are, perchance, no more;
Other fellows may annex
All their treasures o'er and o'er;
No such apprehensions bore
When the postman brings the cheques.
So the lank, lean bards may reel
Tiresome rhymes about the post,
Singing of his "winged heel"
Dragging in a classic host.
Hermes' staff nor Cupid's toy
My prosaic poem decks,
But I know the little boy
Born of Venus shrieks with joy
When the postman brings the cheques.
First published in Melbourne Punch, 11 April 1907
Author reference sites: Austlit, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Australian Poetry Library
See also.
