TO AN OLD COAT
ON GIVING IT AWAY
I know you are unshapely, old and worn;
Unfashionable, grimy, patched and torn;
I know your colour, once quite good, has gone,
And varied are the buttons you have on.
That you have served me well, I know, I know,
Indeed it pains me that you have to go!
But, soon, you’ll drape about a stranger’s form -
If he complains of cold, the ungrateful one,
Mark, though the gift be mean, the kindness done
Should serve to keep the coldest mortal warm.
