Xanthippe

ABC WEDNESDAY

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com.au/

XANTHIPPE

Are you a Xanthippe? Go on! Admit

You sometimes are.... a little bit.

Don't tell me you are always sweet;

All composed and calm and neat!

Don't tell me you don't ever swear,

Raise your voice or tear your hair.

Don't tell me that a soothing smile

Is, one hundred percent, your style.

When you're frustrated on the phone,

Don't tell me that you never moan,

Snarl a bit and lose your cool.

I'm an angel as a rule;

Everyone says I show restraint

And have the patience of a saint.

Insults? Well, they're never hurled;

I'm almost too good for this world.'

But even I have been known to falter

And prove that even saints can alter.

I've been a Xanthippe once or twice

Although I know it isn't nice.

'A bad-tempered woman'..... it's absurd

To think that's the meaning of the word.

It's quite a gentle-sounding name

For something which only earns us blame.

*

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YOU DON'T SAY!

'Have you heard?'

'What! Where was his wife?'

'Well I never!'

'As they say, that's life.'

'I wasn't surprised'.

'Don't pass it on'.

'I heard it from Elsie.'

'And then he was gone'.

'The same dress exactly!'

'Well, it was absurd!'

'I just couldn't credit it!'

'Don't say a word!'

'The innocent party!'

'It just didn't fit!'

'Well, I never gossip'.

*

'Well, maybe a bit'

*