[Editor: This poem by William Blocksidge (also known as William Baylebridge) was published in Songs o’ the South (1908).]
Heredity
’Tis difficult to trust a father’s son
Whose sire has sought the devil all his days,
Ev’n though he worthy be to rank as one
Well past the inclination of our praise:
The fox might pass the measure of his perfidy,
And paint his cub with brand of base heredity.
Source:
William Blocksidge, Songs o’ the South, London: Watts, 1908, p. 78
Editor’s notes:
base = ignoble, lacking decent moral values, lacking good personal qualities, lacking honour; contemptible; cowardly; dishonest; infamous; selfish; corrupt, evil, terrible; regarding someone from a low socio-economic class, of or relating to a peasant; born outside of marriage; born as a slave; coinage not made from valuable metal or having a low proportion of valuable metal; counterfeit; lacking value, of inferior quality or worth, worthless
ev’n = (vernacular) even
perfidy = the quality, state, or act of being disloyal, faithless, or treacherous, breaking an allegiance, committing treason, being deceitful or untrustworthy; a violation of a promise, trust, or vow
sire = father (may also refer to a forefather, i.e. a male ancestor; may also be used as a form of address to someone of high rank, such as a Lord or a King)
’tis = (archaic) a contraction of “it is”
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