English Song
written in 1793
English Song - meaning Summary
Marriage, Duty, and Resistance
The poem stages a domestic dialogue in which a wife, Nancy, contests the husband's claim to unquestioned authority. Speaking plainly, she rejects being treated as a slave, threatens to withdraw obedience and even to leave or die rather than submit, while the husband alternately asserts control and appeals to hope and heaven. The exchange mixes everyday marital terms with bolder threats—abandonment, haunting, remarriage—to show resistance within customary gender roles. The poem highlights tensions between conjugal duty and personal autonomy, using conversational address to dramatize social expectations of husband and wife.
Read Complete AnalysesHusband, husband, cease your strife, Nor longer idly rave, Sir: Tho' I am your wedded wife, Yet I am not your slave, Sir. 'One of two must still obey, 'Nancy, Nancy; 'Is it Man or Woman, say, 'My Spouse Nancy.' If 'tis still the lordly word, Service and obedience; I'll desert my Sov'reign lord, And so, good b'ye, Allegiance! 'Sad will I be, so bereft, 'Nancy, Nancy; 'Yet I'll try to make a shift, 'My Spouse Nancy.' My poor heart then break it must, My last hour I am near it: When you lay men in the dust, Think how you will bear it. 'I will hope and trust in Heaven, 'Nancy, Nancy; 'Strength to bear it will be given, 'My Spouse Nancy.' Well, Sir, from the silent dead, Still I'll try to daunt you; Ever round your midnight bed Horrid sprites shall haunt you. 'I'll wed another, like my Dear, 'Nancy, Nancy; 'Then all hell will fly for fear, 'My Spouse, Nancy.'
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