LADIES and gallants, well a day! If ride ye must, and will not stay, Ah, do not ride in midmost May! Lassie! be sure to take your brother; Laddie! go not without grandmother; Lassie and laddie, take no other! For I have been the dupe of blisses— My malison on blonden Misses, With cherry mouths lip-full with kisses; And jaunty hats with ribboned bows, And beaded basques and—heaven knows What gilded pitfalls full of woes! Dear little bread-and-butter chit, You jilted me I must admit— And split my heart—the deuce a bit! I swore the jewel of Giamschid Than you less excellency hid; You thought so too—you know you did. And yet you made a famous fool Of one a lastrum since from school; I'm on the penitential stool. With groan and grimace acrimonious, I vote all flirting most erroneous, And bivouac with Saint Antonius, I'll make the calaboose my bunk, I'll delve in some monastic trunk; 'Twere highly proper to get drunk! I'll sing @3Am Rhein@1 in the Casino— Become obstreperous with Blineau; In divers ways I'll breeze my spleen, oh! Lycanthropy to me is placid; I'll out-strut e'en Haroun Alraschid— Read Werter, too, for prussic acid. All womankind shall learn to rue it; I'll drench my locks with mutton suet, And guard the corners—young men do it! Upon reflection, I will @3not@1 Become an interesting sot, And sprout a nasal apricot! Philosophy shall be obeyed; I'll puff my meerschaum in the shade, And live to see you @3an old maid!@1 A starch old maid with snuff and chat, With crimpéd curls and—think of that— A fusty parrot and—a cat! I have your tiny gloves hard by; You gave them to me with a sigh— They're torn and faded—so am I. I banquet on them with my looks, I haunt the meadow—tangled brooks, And sift dried jasmines from my books. And brooding o'er them, wrath is felled; I only see the hands that held, Becking me ever back to Eld! Yes—yes! I @3do@1 forgive the Past; And though your stars be overcast, I'll deem you loveliest to the last. But I shall ride no more away, In kingly cavalier array, In midmost love—in midmost May! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PLEAD FOR ME by EMILY JANE BRONTE INGRATEFUL [OR UNGRATEFUL] BEAUTY THREATENED by THOMAS CAREW HUMAN LIFE: ON THE DENIAL OF IMMORTALITY by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE INTO BATTLE by JULIAN GRENFELL THE IDEA OF BALANCE IS TO BE FOUND IN HERONS AND LOONS by JAMES HARRISON SONNET: THE EVENING STAR by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW ELEGIAC SONNET: 2. WRITTEN AT THE CLOSE OF SPRING by CHARLOTTE SMITH |