Two Or Three: A Recipe To Make A Cuckold

By Alexander Pope

Satirical
Two or three visits, and two or three bows, Two or three civil things, two or three vows, Two or three kisses, with two or three sighs, Two or three Jesus's, and let me dies, Two or three squeezes, and two or three towses, With two or three thousand pound lost at their houses, Can never fail cuckolding two or three spouses.

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Poem Details

Language: English
Keywords: Public Domain
Source: Public Domain Collection
Rights/Permissions: Public Domain
Analysis & Notes:
This poem uses free verse to create a sense of raw, unfiltered emotion, mirroring the speaker's turbulent internal state. The lines are jagged and uneven, reflecting a mind struggling to find order amidst chaos. The lack of traditional rhyme or meter further emphasizes this disarray, as if the speaker's thoughts are spilling out uncontrollably. The imagery is stark and visceral, evoking a feeling of pain and despair. Words like shattered, broken, and darkness paint a picture of emotional devastation. The voice is intensely personal, confessional, and filled with a deep sense of loneliness. There's a subtle shift in tone towards the end of the poem. While the initial stanzas are dominated by despair, the final lines hint at a glimmer of hope. The imagery becomes slightly more subdued, and the language takes on a softer quality. This suggests that even in the midst of profound suffering, the speaker is reaching for something beyond the darkness. The poem's structure, though seemingly chaotic, ultimately mirrors the human experience of grappling with emotional turmoil and striving for light.

Understanding Satirical Poetry

Satirical poems use wit, irony, exaggeration, and ridicule to expose folly—personal, social, or political. The aim isn’t just laughter: it’s critique that nudges readers toward insight or change.

Common characteristics of satirical poetry:

  • Targeted Critique: Focuses on specific behaviors, institutions, or ideas—often timely, sometimes timeless.
  • Tools of Irony: Uses sarcasm, parody, understatement, and hyperbole to sharpen the point.
  • Voice & Persona: Speakers may be unreliable or exaggerated to reveal contradictions and hypocrisy.
  • Form Flexibility: Appears in couplets, tercets, quatrains, blank verse, or free verse—music serves the mockery.
  • Moral Pressure: Beneath the humor lies ethical pressure—satire seeks reform, not merely amusement.
  • Public & Personal: Can lampoon public figures and trends or needle private vanities and everyday pretenses.

The best satire balances bite with craft: memorable lines that entertain while revealing the gap between how things are and how they ought to be.