A heartfelt curse

A rhymed malediction beginning with ‘A curse upon the man who first…’

A curse upon the man who first,

By sneezing carelessly, dispersed

What now runs riot, uncontrolled,

And hits men worst: the common cold.

No woman born will ever know

What misery men undergo

When unexpectedly beset

With symptoms women never get.

The common cold that men endure

Is most uncommon, hard to cure,

It saps the soul, it drains the will

And leaves them feeling gravely ill.

So curse the man who sneezed and spread

The microbe everyone must dread

But which, for reasons still unknown,

Inflicts its worst on men alone.