Poem by Thomas Hardy

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.’

1. V.R. 1819–1901
2. Genitrix Laesa
3. Song from Heine
4. Over the Coffin
5. The Forbidden Banns

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