My Favorite Poems

The Twins

This is great!

                                                   In form and feature, face and limb,
                                                             I grew so like my brother,
                                                   That folks got taking me for him,
                                                                And each for one another.
                                                    It puzzled all our kith and kin,
                                                                It reached a fearful pitch;
                                                    For one of us was born a twin,
                                                               Yet not a soul knew which.

                                                    One day, to make the matter worse,
                                                                Before our names were fixed,
                                                    As we were being washed by a nurse,
                                                                We got completely mixed;
                                                    And thus, you see, by fate's decree,
                                                               Or rather nurse's whim,
                                                    My brother John got christened me,
                                                                And I got christened him.

                                                    The fatal likeness even dogged
                                                               My footsteps when at school,
                                                    And I was always getting flogged,
                                                              For John turned out a fool.
                                                    I put this question, fruitlessly,
                                                               To every one I knew,
                                                    "What would you do, if you were me,
                                                               To prove that you were you?"

                                                    Our close resemblance turned the tide
                                                                Of my domestic life,
                                                     For somehow, my intended bride
                                                                Became my brother's wife.
                                                     In fact, year after year the same
                                                                 Absurd mistakes went on,
                                                     And when I died, the neighbors came
                                                                And buried brother John.
                                                                                                                      -Henry Sambrooke Leigh