Expansion Of 'gay' Poem by Douglas Scotney

To hasten his and Tony's return to the country
Tom writes a poem of seven stanzas,
aa bb cc dd effe, the rhyme.

Line one, 'Come spur away',
suggests travel by horse
in a much earlier time.

It is totally safe to say
that that time was the third or fourth decade
of the seventeenth century -
born in 1605, in 1635 Tom saw his last day.

He declares that City 'foppery in plush and scarlet clad'
is less 'gay' than the old, grey simplicity of the country.
That Tom never saw the expansion of 'gay',
it is also totally safe to say.