De haut en bas

A reply in blank verse by the maid addressed in Tennyson’s poem:

“Come down, oh maid, from yonder mountain height:

What pleasure lives in height?” the shepherd sang...

‘What pleasure lives in height?’ the maid replied.

‘Alas, you’ll never know, poor lowly swain

Whose height from tip to toe is half of mine,

Whose top my bustled bottom barely meets!

My pleasure lies in looking down on you

And seeing all that you will never see:

The bald spot in the hayfield that’s your hair

Where flecks of dandruff fall like flakes of snow,

Those sad, beseeching, upturned eyes that gaze

On beauty such as mine beyond their reach.

Look lower, lowly shepherd! Set your sights

On maidens more your size! Go seek and find

Some ‘Mary’ searching for a manikin

To pet and pamper as her ‘little lamb’!

“Come down!” you cry to me. You must be mad.

Grow up and chase the maid that’s made for you.