"Curse Her! Curse Her! Say I; She'll Some Time Rue This Day!"
She'll some time learn that hate is a game that two can play;And long before she dies she'll grieve she ever was born;And I'll plow her grave with hate, and seed it down to scorn!
As sure as the world goes on, there'll come a time when sheWill read the devilish heart of that han'somer man than me;And there'll be a time when he will find, as others do,That she who is false to one can be the same with two.
And when her face grows pale, and when her eyes grow dim,And when he is tired of her and she is tired of him,She'll do what she ought to have done, and coolly count the cost;And then she'll see things clear, and know what she has lost.
And thoughts that are now asleep will wake up in her mind,And she will mourn and cry for what she has left behind;And maybe she'll sometimes long for me--for me--but no!I've blotted her out of my heart, and I will not have it so.
And yet in her girlish heart there was somethin' or other she hadThat fastened a man to her, and wasn't entirely bad;And she loved me a little, I think, although it didn't last;But I mustn't think of these things--I've buried 'em in the past.
I'll take my hard words back, nor make a bad matter worse;She'll have trouble enough; she shall not have my curse;But I'll live a life so square--and I well know that I can--That she always will sorry be that she went with that han'somer man.
Ah, here is her kitchen dress! it makes my poor eyes blur;It seems, when I look at that, as if 'twas holdin' her.And here are her week-day shoes, and there is her week-day hat,And yonder's her weddin' gown: I wonder she didn't take that.
'Twas only this mornin' she came and called me her "dearest dear,"And said I was makin' for her a regular paradise here;O God! if you want a man to sense the pains of hell,Before you pitch him in just keep him in heaven a spell!
Good-bye! I wish that death had severed us two apart.You've lost a worshiper here--you've crushed a lovin' heart.I'll worship no woman again; but I guess I'll learn to pray,And kneel as you used to kneel before you run away.
And if I thought I could bring my words on heaven to bear,And if I thought I had some little influence there,I would pray that I might be, if it only could be so.As happy and gay as I was a half an hour ago.
Words in this poem
- ought p. p.
- Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
- coolly adv.
- In a cool manner; without heat or excessive cold; without passion or ardor; calmly; deliberately; with indifference; impudently.
- maybe adv.
- Perhaps; possibly; peradventure. [For it may be.]
- girlish a.
- Like, or characteristic of, a girl; of or pertaining to girlhood; innocent; artless; immature; weak; as, girlish ways; girlish grief.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- kneel v. i.
- To bend the knee; to fall or rest on the knees; -- sometimes with down. [OE. knelen, cneolien; akin to D. knielen, Dan. knæle. See Knee.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
"Curse Her! Curse Her! Say I; She'll Some Time Rue This Day!" is in the public domain. This text is taken from Farm Ballads, Project Gutenberg ebook #9500; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Will Carleton, "Curse Her! Curse Her! Say I; She'll Some Time Rue This Day!", in Farm Ballads (1873), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #9500, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/carleton-farm-ballads/curse-her-curse-her-say-i-she-ll-some-time-rue-this-day.html, id L23262.
Form and metre
"Curse Her! Curse Her! Say I; She'll Some Time Rue This Day!" is 39 lines in 10 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 9 of its 10 stanzas.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -AA play · bornA · scornA
- 2 AABB sheA · meA · doB · twoB
- 3 AABB dimA · himA · costB · lostB
- 4 AABB mindA · behindA · noB · soB
- 5 AABB hadA · badA · lastB · pastB
- 6 AABB worseA · curseA · canB · manB
- 7 AABB blurA · herA · hatB · thatB
- 8 AABB dearA · hereA · hellB · spellB
- 9 AABB apartA · heartA · prayB · awayB
- 10 AABB bearA · thereA · soB · agoB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| She'll some time learn that hate is a game that two can play; | 13 | ············· |
| And long before she dies she'll grieve she ever was born; | 13 | ·········/˘·· |
| And I'll plow her grave with hate, and seed it down to scorn! | 13 | ············· |
| As sure as the world goes on, there'll come a time when she | 14 | ·······/˘····· |
| Will read the devilish heart of that han'somer man than me; | 14 | ···/˘········· |
| And there'll be a time when he will find, as others do, | 14 | ·/˘········/˘· |
| That she who is false to one can be the same with two. | 13 | ············· |
| And when her face grows pale, and when her eyes grow dim, | 12 | ············ |
| And when he is tired of her and she is tired of him, | 15 | ····/˘·····/˘·· |
| She'll do what she ought to have done, and coolly count the cost; | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| And then she'll see things clear, and know what she has lost. | 12 | ············ |
| And thoughts that are now asleep will wake up in her mind, | 13 | ·····˘/······ |
| And she will mourn and cry for what she has left behind; | 13 | ············· |
| And maybe she'll sometimes long for me--for me--but no! | 13 | ·/˘·˘/······· |
| I've blotted her out of my heart, and I will not have it so. | 15 | ·/˘············ |
| And yet in her girlish heart there was somethin' or other she had | 16 | ····/˘···/˘·/˘·· |
| That fastened a man to her, and wasn't entirely bad; | 15 | ·/˘·····/˘˘/˘˘· |
| And she loved me a little, I think, although it didn't last; | 15 | ·····/˘·····/˘· |
| But I mustn't think of these things--I've buried 'em in the past. | 15 | ··/˘·····/˘···· |
| I'll take my hard words back, nor make a bad matter worse; | 13 | ··········/˘· |
| She'll have trouble enough; she shall not have my curse; | 12 | ··/˘˘/······ |
| But I'll live a life so square--and I well know that I can-- | 14 | ·············· |
| That she always will sorry be that she went with that han'somer man. | 17 | ··/··/˘·········· |
| Ah, here is her kitchen dress! it makes my poor eyes blur; | 13 | ····/˘······· |
| It seems, when I look at that, as if 'twas holdin' her. | 13 | ············· |
| And here are her week-day shoes, and there is her week-day hat, | 14 | ·············· |
| And yonder's her weddin' gown: I wonder she didn't take that. | 15 | ·/˘·····/˘·/˘·· |
| 'Twas only this mornin' she came and called me her "dearest dear," | 15 | ·/˘·········/˘· |
| And said I was makin' for her a regular paradise here; | 16 | ····/˘···/˘˘/˘·· |
| O God! if you want a man to sense the pains of hell, | 13 | ············· |
| Before you pitch him in just keep him in heaven a spell! | 14 | ··········/˘·· |
| Good-bye! I wish that death had severed us two apart. | 13 | ·······/˘··˘/ |
| You've lost a worshiper here--you've crushed a lovin' heart. | 13 | ···/˘˘····/˘· |
| I'll worship no woman again; but I guess I'll learn to pray, | 15 | ·/˘·/˘˘/······· |
| And kneel as you used to kneel before you run away. | 13 | ···········˘/ |
| And if I thought I could bring my words on heaven to bear, | 14 | ··········/˘·· |
| And if I thought I had some little influence there, | 13 | ·······/˘/˘˘· |
| I would pray that I might be, if it only could be so. | 14 | ·········/˘··· |
| As happy and gay as I was a half an hour ago. | 15 | ·/˘········/˘˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.