The lanky hank of a she in the inn over there
Nearly killed me for asking the loan of a glass of beer:
May the devil grip the whey-faced slut by the hair
And beat bad manners out of her skin for a year.
That parboiled imp, with the hardest jaw you will ever see
On virtue's path, and a voice that would rasp the dead,
Came roaring and raging the minute she looked at me,
And threw me out of the house on the back of my head.
If I asked her master he'd give me a cask a day;
But she with the beer at hand, not a gill would arrange!
May she marry a ghost and bear him a kitten and may
The High King of Glory permit her to get the mange.
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Comments
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Well this was certainly an interesting read!
A far different style of poetry than I am used to, but hey, it's nice to see something different for once. I was unaware that we had poetry on this site from long-gone poets! How awesome! 
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Black Humor
The point of the poem, as far as I can guess is to show the typical drunk who comes to the bar. He is not paying for the drink, he wants a loan. So trusting his opinion of the girl at the bar is bit of a stretch. The girl had her reasons to throw him out- he must have accumulated a lot of credit. That is the prosaic explanation. I love the twisted humor, how he heaps the choicest curses on the girl and almost convinces the readers of her vileness. Come to think of it, there must be a lot of creative thinking going on in a bar. -
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May she marry a ghost and bear him a kitten and may
The High King of Glory permit her to get the mange
haha goood stuff -
stanza three
From guest collegeprofessor (contact)
can someone explain what he means in lines 11 and 12? -
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Miaow
My own interpretation of those last two lines are simply an extension of the cat mataphor.
Firstly "She is the cat's mother" is a common response from a woman addressed in the third person; hence the frequent use of she.
Second; To marry a ghost indicates never being able to be satisfied in love ie sexually unfulfilled.
Third; to bear him a kitten is back to the cat reference. Even if she does get a husband then she will not have sons to carry on the line -- only daughters.
Fourth; The High King of Glory is. I think, obvious and getting the mange is a final catty reference and is probably the poets way of saying "May she get the pox!"
I don't think he liked the lady
Jim
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emotion
From guest Virginia (contact)
I love this poem! It's so indicative of a lot of people in authority. The anger is a bit over the top, but funny as hell. -
Oh my! What a harridan! And all he wanted was a drink and she certainly wasn't the pub owner who was giving him credit! That's one way of getting back at a vile shrew: doing her unflattering portrait in rhyme. I would guess he was on credit being a local poet, and she had her own ideas, to hell with her boss! I especially like the "May she marry a ghost and bear him a kitten" curse, and I certainly don't fault him for wishing her the mange.
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Persona? Not sure what you mean there, persona tends to be a human action, like an actor's portrayal, or the facade one presents to those around him.
The theme? Could be more than one. Think of men and women, how they are different, or at least the sterotypes of how they are. Guys tend to be guys, all of a type, a unity...maybe women aren't so gulled by that, "One of me boys"...facades...ah, maybe that is the persona you are looking for? Maybe
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