Mary Mapes Dodge (1831–1905), served for many years as the editor of the popular St. Nicholas Magazine for children. The author of short-story collections for both children and adults, Dodge is remembered chiefly for her children’s novel, “Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates,” the fruit of a longstanding fascination with the Netherlands. She also published collections of poetry. “Over the Way,” with its tetrameter octets, rhymed aabbcddc, represents that rarest of species: a love poem to the speaker’s prospective mother-in-law. Over the Way by Mary Mapes Dodge Over the way, over the way, I’ve seen a head that’s fair and gray; I’ve seen kind eyes not new to tears, A form of grace, though full of years, Her fifty summers have left no flaw, And I, a youth of twenty-three, So love this lady, fair to see, I want her for my mother-in-law! Over the way, over the way, I’ve seen her with the children play; I’ve seen her with a royal grace Before the mirror adjust her lace; A kinder woman none ever saw; God bless and cheer her onward path, And bless all treasures that she hath, And let her be my mother-in-law! Over the way, over the way, I think I’ll venture, dear, some day (If you will lend a helping hand, And sanctify the scheme I’ve planned); I’ll kneel in loving, reverent awe Down at the lady’s feet, and say: “I’ve loved your daughter many a day, Please won’t you be my mother-in-law?” ___________________________________________ With “Poem of the Day,” The New York Sun offers a daily portion of verse selected by the Sun’s poetry editor, Joseph Bottum of Dakota State University, with the help of the North Carolina poet Sally Thomas, The Sun’s associate poetry editor. Tied to the day, or the season, or just individual taste, the poems will be typically drawn from the lesser-known portion of the history of English verse. In the coming months we will be reaching out to contemporary poets for examples of current, primarily formalist work, to show that poetry can still serve as a delight to the ear, an instruction to the mind, and a tonic for the soul.
