Page:Maurine and Other Poems (1910).pdf/10

 In weeks of scenes wherein no man took part. God made the sexes to associate: Nor law of man, nor stern decree of Fate, Can ever undo what His hand has done, And, quite alone, make happy either one. My Helen is an only child:—a pet Of loving parents: and she never yet Has been denied one boon for which she pleaded. A fragile thing, her lightest wish was heeded. Would she pluck roses? They must first be shorn, By careful hands, of every hateful thorn, And loving eyes must scan the pathway where Her feet may tread, to see no stones are there. She’ll grow dull here, in this secluded nook, Unless you aid me in the pleasant task Of entertaining. Drop in with your book— Read, talk, sing for her sometimes. What I ask, Do once, to please me: then there’ll be no need For me to state the case again, or plead. There’s nothing like a woman’s grace and beauty To waken mankind to a sense of duty.”

“I bow before the mandate of my queen: Your slightest wish is law, Ma Belle Maurine,” He answered, smiling, “I’m at your command; Point but one lily finger, or your wand, And you will find a willing slave obeying. There goes my dinner bell! I hear it saying I’ve spent two hours here, lying at your feet, Not profitable, maybe—surely sweet. All time is money; now were I to measure The time I spend here by its solid pleasure, And that were coined in dollars, then I’ve laid Each day a fortune at your feet, fair maid. There goes that bell again! I’ll say good-bye, Or clouds will shadow my domestic sky. I’ll come again, as you would have me do, And see your friend, while she is seeing you. That’s like by proxy being at a feast; Unsatisfactory, to say the least.”

He drew his fine shape up, and trod the land With kingly grace. Passing the gate, his hand He lightly placed the garden wall upon, Leaped over like a leopard, and was gone.