It’s a dreary life with a quarrelsome wife,
I’d rather be out in the rain.
Her nagging words drip out from a constant spout,
I feel cold and drenched and in pain.
The corner of a roof is where I’d like to be
To escape the constant war.
It’s safer and warmer and more comfortable,
Why should I come down for more
Of that complaining and discord and conflict and strife
From that woman You gave me to keep as a wife!
Or maybe I’ll live in a hot, dry desert
Wandering and dying of thirst,
Since in my own home my needs are not met,
Living there is definitely the worst.
The home I dream of holds a wife who’s content;
A woman placidly happy would be heaven-sent.
She’s satisfied, loving, and usually unruffled;
Her infrequent criticism she tries to keep muffled.
This wife brings me good; I feel understood.
I jump down from my roof and run in from the rain;
To be apart from this woman would just be insane!
~ Kim Newhouse
“Better to dwell in a corner of a roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife”
(Proverbs 25:24 TLV).
“Continual dripping on a day of steady rain and a contentious wife are alike”
(Proverbs 27:15 TLV).
“It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome, worrisome wife”
(Proverbs 21:19 TLV).
Read also: Proverbs 19:13 and 21:9.