Old Stuff



If I go to see the play,
        Of the story I am certain;
    Promptly it gets under way
        With the lifting of the curtain.
    Builded all that's said and done
        On the ancient recipe -
    'Tis the same old Two and One:
        A and B in love with C.

    If I read the latest book,
        There's the mossy situation;
    One may confidently look
        For the trite triangulation.
    Old as time, but ever new,
        Seemingly, this tale of Three -
    Same old yarn of One and Two:
        A and C in love with B.

    If I cast my eyes around,
        Far and near and middle distance,
    Still the formula is found
        In our everyday existence.
    Everywhere I look I see -
        Fact or fiction, life or play -
    Still the little game of Three:
        B and C in love with A.

    While the ancient law fulfills,
        Myriad moons shall wane and wax.
    Jack must have his pair of Jills,
        Jill must have her pair of Jacks.
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Submitted by halel on July 27, 2020

Modified on March 14, 2023

50 sec read
6

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABABBCBC DBDBECEC FGFGCACX XHGH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 948
Words 165
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8, 4

Bert Leston Taylor

Bert Leston Taylor was an American columnist, humorist, poet, and author. Bert Leston Taylor became a journalist at seventeen, a librettist at twenty-one, and a successfully published author at thirty-five. more…

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    "Old Stuff" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/54491/old-stuff>.

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