Dismissed

This breezy 19th-century ditty takes a comic view of romantic rejection, treating the indignity of being thrown out with wry self-awareness. The speaker accepts that perhaps he deserved to be dismissed, but simply cannot understand the physical violence of the expulsion. It's a small, perfectly formed piece of American humor that treats love's failures with gentle mockery rather than tragedy. Morris was one of antebellum America's most popular poets, and 'Dismissed' shows why: his work spoke directly to ordinary hearts with accessible wit. The poem endures because we still recognize that particular sting of rejection, that bewildering moment when dignity and stairs collide.