Poems :: :: University of Virginia Library

I folded my sweet little Maude in my arms,
And fondly I kissed and caressed her;
I gazed with delight on her manifold charms,
And close to my true heart I prest her;

And lo! of a sudden she sprung from her place
With a shriek, and ere I could spring after,
She folded her lily-white hands o'er her face,
And sobbed with hysterical laughter.

I fondled and soothed her and coaxed her in vain,
In vain I upbraided and scolded;
Then whisp'ring I woo'd her to tell me her pain,
And her lily-white hands I unfolded:

And wept when I saw that the tears she had shed
All o'er her sweet countenance trickled;
And laughed when at last, all in anger, she said,
“You know I can't bear to be tickled!”