Page:The Bab Ballads.djvu/147

 He passed his time designing traps To flurry unsuspicious chaps—
 * The taste was his innately—

He couldn't walk into a room Without ejaculating "Boom!"
 * Which startled ladies greatly.

He'd wear a mask and muffling cloak, Not, you will understand, in joke,
 * As some assume disguises.

He did it, actuated by A simple love of mystery
 * And fondness for surprises.

I need not say he loved a maid— His eloquence threw into shade
 * All others who adored her:

The maid, though pleased at first, I know, Found, after several years or so,
 * Her startling lover bored her.

So, when his orders came to sail, She did not faint or scream or wail,
 * Or with her tears anoint him.

She shook his hand, and said "good bye," With laughter dancing in her eye—
 * Which seemed to disappoint him.