English Poetry. Thomas Hardy. The Dolls. Томас Гарди (Харди).

Thomas Hardy (Томас Гарди (Харди))

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.’

Thomas Hardy’s other poems: