Lennon, John

the final sentence added in autograph in black ink then corrected in red ink by a scribal hand, ten scattered corrections in black and red ink, one page, large post quarto (10 x 8 in.; 255 x 203 mm, unwatermarked), slight creasing at edges

The sardonic tone of this piece about preparations for a wedding is enhanced by it being narrated from the perspective of the observer Clive Barrow rather than the groom, Roger, excited on his "red lettuce day", or his bride-to-be Anne in her "flowing weddy drag". The cruel tone is encapsulated in Lennon's sharp parody of wedding vows: "To have and to harm ... till death duty part". Once again, it is tempting to speculate that the use of nonsense and word-play allowed Lennon to express his darker thoughts (in this case, about his own marriage) in a more or less disguised form. It appears on p.56 of In His Own Write.