November 24, 2007

Darby and Joan

Darby and Joan - An elderly married couple who live a placid, harmonious life together and are seldom seen apart.

In 1735 Henry Woodfall, a printer's apprentice, wrote a ballad titled "The joys of love never forgot: a song" about a happily married elderly couple. His inspiration for those characters was his own boss John Darby and his wife Joan:

"Old Darby, with Joan by his side,
You've often regarded with wonder:
He's dropsical, she is sore-eyed,
Yet they're never happy asunder ..."

He wrote this poem after Darby's death. This poem in turn became an inspiration for follow-up poems and eventually Darby and Joan became a metaphor. In the UK, clubs for old people are still called Darby and Joan clubs. Below is a pic of D&J figurines.


Source: www.answers.com, www.wordsmith.org, www.cartoonstock.com,

6 comments:

Radha said...

a post about happy married life. how apt ! :)

Chica, Cienna, and Cali said...

haha.....let's talk about young love first :D

Unknown said...

Women: The content, intent of the post has a negative correlation with the occurences in the life of the author. It is purely academic in nature!

Unknown said...

awesome comeback 666...wow what a story ...it can create a beautiful quiz.

Radha said...

well, i could hear the wedding music pretty clearly when i read the post !!!

suramya said...

thats such a quaint expression :) I'm so glad you brought it to my notice. I'm rather bad at picking up hints but are wedding bells in the air?