Mother says, “Be in no hurry,
Marriage oft means care and worry.”
Auntie says, with manner grave,
“Wife is synonym for slave.”
Father asks, in tones commanding,
“How does Bradstreet rate his standing?”
Sister crooning to her twins,
Sighs, “With marriage care begins.”
Grandma, near life’s closing days,
Murmurs, “Sweet are girlhood’s ways.”
Maud, twice widowed (“sod and grass”)
Looks at me and moans “Alas!”
They are six, and I am one,
Life for me has just begun.
They are older, calmer, wiser:
Age should aye be youth’s adviser.
They must know—and yet, dear me,
When in Harry’s eyes I see
All the world of love there burning—
On my six advisers turning,