The Choice

The house had stood in the forest since

The passing of George the Third,

Ivy clung to the western wall,

The pillars were cracked and scarred,

The windows were bricked and boarded up

From the days of the window tax,

And the name FitzAdam was burnt in sin

In its myriad faults and cracks.

 

The oaks threw shadows in early morn,

The elms threw shadows at noon,

There wasn’t a single sunny wall

To be found ‘til the month of June,

And deep inside in the gloomy halls

Sat the last of the family tree,

Two aging spinsters, Jan and Jane,

And a dead man, that made three!

 

For Henry sat as he’d always sat

Since the day that he’d come to call,

To ask for the hand of Jan or Jane,

And arrange a Wedding Ball,

It was fifty years ago today

That he’d kept them in suspense,

For neither knew what their suitor knew

And the atmosphere was tense!

 

It was just a game to him, they thought,

He was going to have his fun,

He sat at the head of the table, and

He watched their features run,

The anxious looks of the elder girl,

The pleading lips of Jane,

He sat for an hour between them there

And refused to name a name!

 

The fire that glowed in the hearth went out,

Jane left to fetch some coal,

While Jan reached out for a sign from him

And felt that his hand was cold;

His eyes were blank as a morning mist,

His jaw had dropped to his chest,

‘What have you done - was I the one?’

Jane cried, in her distress!

 

But Henry, he was good and dead,

He’d reached his earthly span,

His heart had not proved big enough

To choose between Jane and Jan,

And so he sits with a secret smile

As his flesh returns to sand,

While Jan and Jane, they still complain

As they struggle to hold his hand!

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[emmajoy]

Wonderful metre, finely selected words and meanings, fun and tears .. you really have the skill to make your posts more than more, David

Don't know why these four lines stick in my mind after reading the entire work, maybe the quality of style and the picture you've painted in a quite simple way .. .. 'And deep inside in the gloomy halls ~ Sat the last of the family tree, ~ Two aging spinsters, Jan and Jane, ~ And a dead man, that made three! '

(There's a few of those Henries to this day!)

[Dayran]

Poor Henry! Obviously making a choice meant creating a happy experience and a sad one at the same time. This is obviously the age of chivalry where we lacked the hand of the will that would reach to mould the destiny of another human, for a single act is viewed as having implications that makes a long list.

People say the nastiest things these days about the manners of our society. Yet a man today would have picked Jane and told her that her sister can come stay with them after they are married.

[*** Hey Jude***]

I absolutely love the creativity that was involved to get this story to such a remarkable place. I am astounded once again as your pen brings such delight.
What a wonderful mind you have my friend. This is goes to the top of favorites in my library! ~ :-)

[...]

You are a brilliant melodic storyteller, dear soul!!!!

[Chris]

A delicious tale.

[Muse]

You paint a story that is both humorous and sad. It's funny how we can fight over a human...as if they were just an object...we sometimes forget...that there are real feelings at play. This "man"...I can almost feel him smirking his way to the grave...I think he enjoyed having two woman fighting over him....it amused him? What a travesty....Shakespeare style. :)

[Distant horizons]

Brilliantly unique.