The North Wall
By feverfew
10 comments
If some of you have got a wall that won’t grow anything at all:A wall that faces north by east& is in fact a perfect beast.If nothing you can ever do will make it grow a thing for you—Don’t let it get upon your nerves;Just treat that wall as it deserves.
Ignore that wall that dreadful wall that won’t grow anything at all.Adopt a casual, offhand air, as one should say :“It isn’t there.”Pass slowly by the wall each day, turning your head the other way;Walk by it with averted head as if it were diseased or dead.
And, very soon that dreadful wall that won’t grow anything at all will be as soft & mild & sweet as any wall that you could meet.A Passion Flower will start to climb;Peaches will bloom before their time & bougainvillea ,planted there will blossom in the open air.
Walls are like women after all.Treat woman as you would a wall.Walk by her with averted head as if she were diseased or dead;And soon she’ll be as mild & sweet as any girl that you could meet.
26 Jan, 2013
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Comments
LoL did you pen that Feverfew?
I grow a fine Macrepetala clematis up my north wall. It cascades with hundreds of blue flowers in late spring. Just love it!
(the wall isn't pretty enough to leave as a blank canvass!)
26 Jan, 2013
Lol....shall have to try that with the missus!!
no, silly me....how .could she be milder or sweeter than she already is?.....impossible!!
26 Jan, 2013
This woman would certainly not react like that!
26 Jan, 2013
Ha ha.No, a very strange comparison!!!!
But a very amusing poem!!
26 Jan, 2013
There must be some historical substance in the general idea of "Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen" - maybe from during Victorian and Edwardian times when it was socially unacceptable for a young lady to be single so they got panicky? I doubt it works now!
27 Jan, 2013
Lol Feverfew. I don't think a woman has written this poem. I was thoroughly enjoying it until the last few lines lol:-) Not as bad as that old rhyme....
A woman, a dog and a walnut tree
The more you beat them, the better they be:-(
It's funny how even beautiful things like flowers and trees have been used by men to keep women in their place:-)
27 Jan, 2013
I wouldn't react like that either,Steragram! No I didn't write the poem.Lulu. It's written by a Reginald Arkell, back in the 1940's.Must remember to always include his name in future.Thanks for all the comments folks. The poems seem to get a reaction each time.Another on Saturday!
29 Jan, 2013
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Very clever but Goy gardeners know the plants that need a north wall !
26 Jan, 2013