AMARE, O!
(By an Usher.)
With weary brain I hear again The drowsy urchins stammer, O, From mensa down through every noun That's in the Latin grammar, O! And when declensions pall, why then, The exercise to vary, O, I bid them show how well they know My sweet, sweet verb, Amare, O!
"Amo, amas,—I love a lass," Her dainty name is Nancy, O, And none but she shall ever be The darling of my fancy, O! Amavi—well, in love I fell, And sure 'twas no vagary, O, For since that day I've learnt the way To conjugate Amare, O!
I whisper now, "Ama, Love thou!" Amongst the fields of barley, O, And Nance replies, with brimming eyes, "I love, I love thee, Charlie, O!" Amo, ama, the livelong day I'll teach my winsome fairy, O, For has not she resolved with me To conjugate Amare, O?
