Page:The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1908.djvu/132

POEMS OF MANHATTAN 'T was written down,

For the good of the town,

By Jeems, of The Daily Flyer.

A coach and horses, you 'd think, would buy

For the Don an easy victory;

But slowly our Princess yielded.

A diamond necklace caught her eye,

But a wreath of pearls first made her sigh.

She knew the worth of each maiden glance,

And, like young colts, that curvet and prance,

She led the Don a deuce of a dance,

In spite of the wealth he wielded.

She stood such a fire of silks and laces,

Jewels, and golden dressing-cases,

And ruby brooches, and jets and pearls,

That every one of her dainty curls

Brought the price of a hundred common girls;

Folks thought the lass demented!

But at last a wonderful diamond ring,

An infant Koh-i-noor, did the thing,

And, sighing with love, or something the same,

(What's in a name?)

The Princess May consented.

Ring! ring the bells, and bring

The people to see the marrying!

Let the gaunt and hungry and ragged poor

Throng round the great Cathedral door,

To wonder what all the hubbub 's for,

And sometimes stupidly wonder

At so much sunshine and brightness, which

Fall from the church upon the rich,

While the poor get all the thunder.

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