Now no one had spoken,

Till silence was broken

By the Abbot, who said,—

"Friends, I'm come to unite

By the conjugal rite

The young pair who would wed.

But, pray, which is the bridegroom, and which is the bride?—

Are you firmly resolved, then, to have your fates tied

In a very tight knot, which you neither can sever,

Though you're sick of each other, as folks must get ever?