BACHELOR'S LIFE.
"I will tell in measured numbers,
That our life is not a dream;
That the earth we don't encumber;
That we are not what we seem.
"Man is real—we are earnest;
Eve, thy birth is not a fib;
Of man thou art, to him returnest;
We each are looking for his rib.
"No selfishness, not pleasure,
Is our only aim below;
Or to win wealth and treasure,
The only bliss we wish to know.
"Life is short, time is fleeting,
We should hurry, up and do
That which brings a parent's greeting,
That which settles us below.
"Bring us aid through life to battle
Who'll gird her hero in the strife;
No longer be mere straying cattle,
Find a tender, loving wife,
"Beware the future, howe'er pleasant
Our fondest dream of it may be;
Our freedom, liberty, past and present,
Our pleasures we may cease to see.
"Do not married men remind us,
We, though erring, yet have time,
To amend and leave behind us
Names unsullied by the crime.
"A crime the ladies all declare,
Being single through life's rapid run;
No victim to their wedded care,
Bent on freedom, pleasure, fun.
"Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still in honour's track pursuing,
Find a partner, though its late."
From Notes and Queries, August 31, 1872.
The following appeared in the Seattle Intelligencer (a Washington Territory newspaper), of December 4, 1871:—