The Twins Poem by Henry Sambrooke Leigh
The Twins
In form and feature, face and limb,
I grew so like my brother,
That folks got taking me for him,
And each for one another.
It puzzled all our kith and kin,
It reached a fearful pitch;
For one of us was born a twin,
Yet not a soul knew which.
One day, to make the matter worse,
Before our names were fixed,
As we were being washed by nurse,
We got completely mixed;
And thus, you see, by fate's decree,
Or rather nurse's whim,
My brother John got christened me,
And I got christened him.
This fatal likeness even dogged
My footsteps when at school,
And I was always getting flogged,
For John turned out a fool.
I put this question, fruitlessly,
To everyone I knew,
'What would you do, if you were me,
To prove that you were you?'
Our close resemblance turned the tide
Of my domestic life,
For somehow, my intended bride
Became my brother's wife.
In fact, year after year the same
Absurd mistakes went on,
And when I died, the neighbors came
And buried brother John.
I memorized and recited this poem in 8th grade, and recited in front of my English class.26 years later, by total coincidence, my wife had girl-boy twins. I can still recite it for my grandchildren!
I am an identical twin (aged 94) . When I was 16 I had a date with my boyfriend. I couldn't keep it as I had a terrible cold so I sent my twin to explain to him. However she pretended she was me and he took her out, not knowing the difference. When I next saw him I was furious!
I am a twin and I recited The Twins in primary school in New Zealand in the fifties. I Immigrated to Canada and am living in Toronto with my wife who is also a twin. So this poem is a fun piece for us.
One of my favourite poems when I was a wee one. Memorized it and repeated it over and over. lol Such a great poem. XOXOXOXO
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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5/2/2024 7:42:14 AM # 1.0.0.1119
:) very good and healpful