A BALLADE TO THE GIRLS
Away with frowns—away with groans!
And give me the girls who are glad and free;
For the wails of woman, they weaken my bones,
And make of a man a quick refugee;
Or else he retorts with a sharp repartee.
And give me the smiles of joy and beauty,
The fellowship joined in a long jubilee—
Yes, the girls who live for love and duty.
It costs but a little to make such loans,
And dunce is the man who dares disagree.
They’re better than riches and glittering thrones;
They’re better for all and better for thee.
Then scatter the smiles from sea to sea,
Less fleeting than fame and more than booty.
O give me the ones in perpetual glee,
Yes, the girls who live for love and duty.
The wise man his frowns ever gladly postpones,
And gives of his strength to you and to me;
His sorrow and woe he forever disowns—
The mortal like him treads a Heaven-lit lea,
And the out-lying goal is pleasant to see.
The fellow that frowns is ugly and sooty;
Ah, save me from him, for the good guarantee,
Yes, the girls who live for love and duty.
Envoy
All praise to the girls who are busy as a bee,
But fie to the man who’s stoney and rooty;
And the fellow as well who’s too fond of his fee—
Yes, the girls who live for love and duty.