In high school I hated English and Literature, but there was one British poem we studied that caught me. It was written over 300 years ago, but it resonated with me because it sounded so…modernish. It was about a man who should have been grateful his child was born, but in the end he was another mouth to feed.
Was it from Samuel Pepys?
London by William Blake?
Samuel Pepys is not known as a poet.
If Boulter’s Canary hasn’t already nailed it (seems like a bit of a stretch to me, but maybe), can you give us anything more to go on? Any actual lines or phrases, maybe?
It was five to six lines, the clincher line is happens in the final line with the confession
Definitely British from 18th or 17th century
smokey78, do you remember if it was by a well-known writer/poet?
Me too, to be honest - but it was the only poem I could find of the period Smokey said that ends with a curse on a birth.
Perhaps just as crucially, he isn’t known as a father either - he was childless.
Same theme but definitely British and centuries ago.
Guess I’ll look through English Literature/Poetry textbooks at the library. I do know it was five or six lines, short.