University of Virginia Library

But reader, be it not supposed
That Lil and her Professor closed
Their interesting interview
So very briefly as I do.
Whatever at the time had been
Her satisfaction at fourteen
When Ted had petted her, she now
Felt to herself inclined to vow
That it was not a patch upon
That which she just had undergone,
And was prepared to undergo
Till further notice—in the glow
Of mutual love oblivious quite
Of the chill roughness of the night,
Which maybe, since it kept the rest
Within the house, was for the best.
Here Lil disclosed confidingly
(Still nestling on her lover's knee,
While her soft damask cheeks and lips
Frequently underwent eclipse),
What palpitations of dismay
The story of Nausicaa
Had wakened, how she'd nursed a dread
That he would turn out to be wed,
Though it did not at first occur
What difference it made to her;
How she had shuddered at the day
When he would have to go away,
Although he, it was obvious,
Could not be always at their house;
That truly she had never thought
Of marriage with him, but had sought
His company because she found
That days went far more blithely round
In his society, than when
She talked with ordinary men.”
He said, when in due time his lips
Could spare the leisure from their sips,
“Your parents may think my demand
And your surrender of your hand
A trifle premature upon
A four days' introduction.
But four days are enough to show
How pleasantly my life will go
With you as help-mate, and you seem
To know enough of me, to deem
That I shall fairly well fulfil
What you meant when you said ‘I will.’
A stranger in a far-off land
Drifts till he finds a friendly strand
In some fair, gentle girl like you
To moor his wandering bark unto.
Had I the loneliness but known
Of living in strange lands alone,
I should have wedded ere I left
Rather than face it out, bereft
Of father's, brother's, sister's face,
Without a wife's to take their place.
This is my answer to the world.
If it with lip and nostril curled
Hints that my suit was rather short,
Your father's sanction I shall court
With the fair rank I hold in life
And proof that I can give a wife
A decent, comfortable home,
Though small enough to you who come
From one like this. My plea to you
Is that you represent my view
Of gentle, graceful womanhood,
Neither too clever nor too good,
To be caressing when one's tired
And like being petted and admired,
Intelligent enough to take
An interest in plans I make
And what I write and what I do
But not what Frenchmen call ‘a blue.’
Women of genius and those
Who would their own impress impose
On everything a husband does
Should chose a husband like the wife
Whom I invite to share my life
Contented to appreciate,
And seeking not to mould, their fate.
There cannot in one household be
Two-in-command and harmony.

I have been candid with you, Lil,
And told you how you so fulfil
My beau-ideal of a wife.
You have the merry pride of life,
The beauty that allures the eye
The grace of form and gait, the shy
But never-failing sympathy,
The easy, gracious courtesy,
And tender girlish helplessness,
And more that I can ill express.”