University of Virginia Library

DOROTHY QUINCY UPHAM

JUNE 7, 1883
Dear little Dorothy, Dorothy Q.,
What can I find to write to you?
You have two U's in your name, it's true,
And mine is adorned with a double-u;
But there's this difference in the U's,
That one you will stand a chance to lose
When a happy man of the bearded sex
Shall make it Dorothy Q. + X.
May Heaven smile bright on the blissful day
That teaches this lesson in Algebra!
When the orange blossoms crown your head,
Then read what your old great-uncle said,
And remember how in your baby-time
He scribbled a scrap of idle rhyme,—
Idle, it may be—but kindly, too,
For the little lady, Dorothy Q.