Page:Famous Single Poems (1924).djvu/209

 So we were engaged. Our troth had been plighted, Not by moonbeam or starbeam, by fountain or grove, But in a front parlor, most brilliantly lighted, Beneath the gas-fixtures we whispered our love. Without any romance or raptures or sighs, Without any tears in Miss Flora’s blue eyes, Or blushes, or transports, or such silly actions, It was one of the quietest business transactions, With a very small sprinkling of sentiment, if any, And a very large diamond imported by Tiffany. On her virginal lips while I printed a kiss, She exclaimed, as a sort of parenthesis, And by way of putting me quite at my ease, “You know, I’m to polka as much as I please. And flirt when I like,—now, stop, don’t you speak,— And you must not come here more than twice in the week, Or talk to me either at party or ball, But always be ready to come when I call; So don’t prose to me about duty and stuff, If we don’t break this off, there will be time enough For that sort of thing; but the bargain must be That, as long as I choose, I am perfectly free,