a bit of a lark.
A load of old bollocks is nearer the mark.
He might as well bark
at the moon -
that feckin' stone's no sooner up
than it's rolling back
all the way down.
And what does he say?
Mustn't shirk-
keen as a hawk,
lean as a shark
Mustn't shirk!
But I lie alone in the dark,
feeling like Noah's wife did
when he hammered away at the Ark;
like Frau Johann Sebastian Bach.
This is a sudden change of mood. The line conveys grief and hurt more than anger. All the poems in ‘The World’s Wife’ are emotionally complex. Mrs Sisyphus’s scorn is only part of this sad story of male stupidity.
Mrs Sisyphus