O "settle down and marry," oft of yore,
I swore—but was I sober when I swore?
And then there came another girl—and I
Turned gaily to the old Love-Game, once more.





ND, much as I repented things like this,
And fondly dreamed of sweet Domestic Bliss,
I sometimes wonder what a wife can give,
One half so thrilling as a stolen kiss!





ET, if the hair should vanish from my brow,
My girth, in time, to great dimensions grow—
If youth's sweet-scented "Buds" should pass
me by,
Accounting me an antiquated beau—





HY then, some winged angel, ere too late—
Some maiden verging onto twenty-eight—
Will gladly take what's left of me, I trow,
And, leading me to wedlock, thank her Fate!

. . . . . .




LAS, for those who may to-day prepare
The wedding trousseau for the morrow's wear,
A voice of warning cried, "There's many a slip
Betwixt the Altar and the Solitaire!"