Relationships
A Dutch Proverb
From Poems on Several Occasions
FIRE, water, woman, are man's ruin :
Says wise professor Vander Bruin.
By flames a house I hir'd was lost
Last year, and I must pay the cost.
This spring the rains o'erflow'd my ground ;
And my best Flanders mare was drown'd.
A slave I am to Clara's eyes :
The gipsy knows her power, and flies.
Fire, water, woman, are my ruin :
And great thy wisdom, Vander Bruin.
Codex Note
A man who has lost a house to fire and a mare to flood turns the proverb that fire, water and woman are man's ruin against his own mistress.
Cite this poem
MLA
Prior, Matthew. “A Dutch Proverb.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/prior/20/.
Chicago
Prior, Matthew. “A Dutch Proverb.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/prior/20/.
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