On Marriage
That hackney'd judge of human life, The Preacher and the King, Observes: - 'The man that gets a wife He gets a noble thing.' But how capricious are mankind, Now loathing, now desirous! We married men, how oft we find The best of things will tire us!
On Marriage - meaning Summary
Marriage's Changing Fortunes
The speaker questions the old proverb that marriage is a noble prize, arguing instead that human desire is changeable and what once seemed desirable quickly becomes tiresome. Addressing both the proverb and married men, the poem compresses a skeptical view of wedded life into a compact observation: marriage may begin as a valued possession but familiarity and shifting appetite can turn even the "best of things" into a source of boredom. The tone is wry and world-weary rather than celebratory.
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