William Makepeace Thackeray: Sorrows of Werther

Sorrows of Werther

WERTHER had a love for Charlotte
Such as words could never utter;
Would you know how first he met her?
She was cutting bread and butter.

Charlotte was a married lady,
And a moral man was Werther,
And for all the wealth of Indies
Would do nothing for to hurt her.

So he sigh’d and pin’d and ogled,
And his passion boil’d and bubbled,
Till he blew his silly brains out,
And no more was by it troubled.

Charlotte, having seen his body
Borne before her on a shutter,
Like a well-conducted person,
Went on cutting bread and butter.

William Makepeace Thackeray
(1811–63)
Sorrows of Werther

• fleursdumal.nl magazine

More in: # Classic Poetry Archive, -Die Leiden des jungen Werther, Archive S-T, Archive S-T