By Thomas Thurman Date 2010-06-11 22:38 Edited 2010-06-14 03:16

To a fat lady seen from the train

by Frances Cornford

O why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
Missing so much and so much?
O fat white woman whom nobody loves,
Why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
When the grass is soft as the breast of doves
And shivering sweet to the touch?
O why do you walk through the fields in gloves,
Missing so much and so much?

By Thomas Thurman Date 2010-06-12 21:53 Edited 2010-06-12 21:57

Without a doubt, this is the most famous triolet ever written. It's rather a shame that it's so acidic.

This poem is by Frances Cornford, Charles Darwin's granddaughter; don't confuse her with her husband Francis Cornford, also a writer.

G.K. Chesterton replied for the woman, unfortunately not in triolet form:

Why do you rush through the fields in trains,
Guessing so much and so much?
Why do you flash through the flowery meads,
Fat-head poet that nobody reads;
And why do you know such a frightful lot
About people in gloves and such?
Why do you rush through the fields in trains,
Guessing so much and so much?