Page:The Bab Ballads.djvu/74

 TO MY BRIDE.

H! little maid!—(I do not know your name &emsp;Or who you are, so, as a safe precaution I'll add)—Oh, buxom widow! married dame!
 * (As one of these must be your present portion)
 * Listen, while I unveil prophetic lore for you,
 * And sing the fate that Fortune has in store for you.

You'll marry soon—within a year or twain
 * A bachelor of circa two and thirty,

Tall, gentlemanly, but extremely plain,
 * And, when you're intimate, you'll call him "."
 * Neat—dresses well; his temper has been classified
 * As hasty; but he's very quickly pacified.

You'll find him working mildly at the Bar,
 * After a touch at two or three professions,

From easy affluence extremely far
 * A brief or two on Circuit—"soup" at Sessions;
 * A pound or two from whist, and backing horses,
 * And, say three hundred from his own resources.