 | Lyrical Poems |  |
173
JENNY'S SOLILOQUY.
O that my braw wooers would study their battle,
A face of more meekness belike I might show them!
But now they rush on with a reasonless rattle,
And forget that before we can love we must know them.
These hot-bloods, they think that we women are pikes,
To devour a red rag, or a leaf of white metal;
But a sensible maiden will look ere she likes,
As a bee smells the flower in the breeze ere it settle.
A face of more meekness belike I might show them!
But now they rush on with a reasonless rattle,
And forget that before we can love we must know them.
These hot-bloods, they think that we women are pikes,
To devour a red rag, or a leaf of white metal;
But a sensible maiden will look ere she likes,
As a bee smells the flower in the breeze ere it settle.
There's huge-whiskered Harry came swashing from town,
On a pair of stout legs that full bravely did carry him;
He thought a red coat with the fair must go down,
So that very night he besought me to marry him.
Quoth I, I can't tell, you might do very well,
You have whiskers and legs, and your brave name is Harry,
But my husband must know me, and Harry must show me
His soul, if he has one, before I can marry!
On a pair of stout legs that full bravely did carry him;
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So that very night he besought me to marry him.
Quoth I, I can't tell, you might do very well,
You have whiskers and legs, and your brave name is Harry,
But my husband must know me, and Harry must show me
His soul, if he has one, before I can marry!
Then Tommy the student, a smooth-polished man,
Who soon on his shoulders a surplice will carry,
He thought a good wife should be part of his plan,
So fresh from his Greek books he asked me to marry.
Quoth I, you look sleek, and you're well read in Greek,
And a logical thrust you can decently parry;
But whether your soul's a man's or a mole's
I must know, learnèd Tommy, before I can marry!
Who soon on his shoulders a surplice will carry,
He thought a good wife should be part of his plan,
So fresh from his Greek books he asked me to marry.
Quoth I, you look sleek, and you're well read in Greek,
And a logical thrust you can decently parry;
But whether your soul's a man's or a mole's
I must know, learnèd Tommy, before I can marry!
Next, barrister Bobby came flouncing about,
As keen as a hawk that will pounce on the quarry;
He thought I must read my Lord Bob on his snout,
So he said a few smart things, and asked me to marry.
Quoth I, that you're clever no man doubted ever,
With you for an answer no question needs tarry;
But if you claim a part, learnèd sir, in my heart,
You must show me your own first, then ask me to marry!
As keen as a hawk that will pounce on the quarry;
He thought I must read my Lord Bob on his snout,
So he said a few smart things, and asked me to marry.
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With you for an answer no question needs tarry;
But if you claim a part, learnèd sir, in my heart,
You must show me your own first, then ask me to marry!
And so they go bouncing and blundering on,
The metal before it is hot always striking;
And thus in the end I'll be left quite alone,
Where no fancy has leisure to grow to a liking.
But of one thing I'm sure, no mate I'll endure,
Who thinks I can wed his mere beef and his bone;
But he who would win me must first reign within me,
By the right of a soul, the born lord of my own!
The metal before it is hot always striking;
And thus in the end I'll be left quite alone,
Where no fancy has leisure to grow to a liking.
But of one thing I'm sure, no mate I'll endure,
Who thinks I can wed his mere beef and his bone;
But he who would win me must first reign within me,
By the right of a soul, the born lord of my own!
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