SONNET 18
(...so I says to Shakespeare, "If you can use it, use it.")
(and with a deep debt to C T Grey and his pictured book)
Shall I compare thee to a summerhouse?
Thou art more sturdy and more waterproof;
A summerhouse is for a great girl’s blouse;
Conservatories? Thou thinkest me a poof!
Sometime too hot doth blaze Apollo’s eye
But when ‘tis cold, ‘tis bloody cold, by Jove!
Ye shed-man, though, will ne’er stick fast, for by
Paraffin heater or pot-belly stove
He spurneth risk of carbon monoxide;
And eke he may his wife-man’s nagging halt
Concealing himself covertly inside
His faith placed on ye door’s interior bolt;
Forsooth he may splash out on as he’s read
His dirty books inside yon garden shed.
Ray Miller
Thu 7th Feb 2013 22:03
You might try "ere and after" in some form, like
splashing out on ere and after he's read
I don't say it's any better but the best I can do.