I'm twenty now, she twenty-five—
Well, well! how old she's growing.
I fancy that my suit might thrive
If pressed again; but, owing
To great discrepancy in age,
Her marked attentions don't engage
My young affections, for, you see,
She's really quite too old for me.
Walter Learned [1847-1915]
IN EXPLANATION
Her lips were so near
That—what else could I do?
You'll be angry, I fear.
But her lips were so near—
Well, I can't make it clear,
Or explain it to you.
But—her lips were so near
That—what else could I do?
Walter Learned [1847-1915]
OMNIA VINCIT
Long from the lists of love I stood aloof
My heart was steeled and I was beauty-proof;
Yet I, unscathed in many a peril past,
Lo! here am I defeated at the last.
My practice was, in easy-chair reclined,
Superior-wise to speak of womankind,
Waving away the worn-out creed of love
To join the smoke that wreathed itself above.