Fugitive Poetry. 1600–1878/All's Well that Ends Well

​
All's Well that Ends Well.
A friend of mine was married to a scold,To me he came, and all his troubles told.Said he, "She's like a woman raving mad.""Alas! my friend," said I," that's very bad!""No. not so bad," said he; "for, with her, true,I had both house and laud, and money too."   "That was well," said I;   "No, not so well," said he;   "For I and her own brother   Went to law with one another;   I was cast, the suit was lost,And every penny went to pay the cost."   "That was bad," said I:   "No, not so bad," said he:"For we agreed that he the house should keep,And give to me four score of Yorkshire sheep;All fat, and fair, and fine, they were to be."" Well, then," said I. "sure that was well for thee? ​   "No, not so well," said he;   "For, when the sheep I got,   They every one died of the rot."   "That was bad," said I;   "No, not so bad," said he;   "For I had thought to scrape the fat   And keep it in an oaken vat;Then into tallow melt for winter store.""Well, then," said I, "that's better than before?"   "'Twas not so well, said he;   "For having got a clumsy fellow   To scrape the fat and melt the tallow;Into the melting fat the fire catches,   And, like brimstone matches,   Burnt my house to ashes."   "That was bad," said I;"No! not so bad," said he; "for, what is best,My scolding wife has gone among the rest."

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.