[THE PRINCESS IN SATURN AND THE RED MAN IN MARS.]
There once was a princess both fair and tall,
Who did not live on this earth at all.
She lived up in Saturn,
And she was a pattern
Of every accomplishment, great and small;
The graces and virtues, she had them all.
Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, she had them pat;
And she played on the sackbut! think of that!
And she sang so sweet,
All the birds at her feet
With envy and sorrow fell down quite flat;
I've been told they fell down quite remarkably flat.
Now all the princes and all the kings
Who lived in Saturn and all his rings,
They came and knelt
Where the princess dwelt;
And they brought her all sorts of beautiful things,—
Oh! quite an assortment of elegant things.
For one king brought her a diamond hat;
And another presented a two-legged cat;
While another one said,
"When my uncle is dead,
I will give you his monkey. Be sure of that!
His talented monkey; depend upon that!"
One powerful prince, with a haughty stride,
Came forward and said, "If you'll be my bride,
You shall have the Great Bear
To powder your hair,
And the small one to lace up your boots beside,—
To lace up your boots, and to shine them beside."
But the princess sighed; and softly she said,
"Alas! not one of you all can I wed.
'Tis my positive plan
To marry a man
Who lives up in Mars, and is painted red,—
From his head to his feet, quite a violent red.
"I have often looked through my opera-glass,
And up and down I have seen him pass;
And so bright was his hue,
And so lovely to view,
I felt that in him lay my fate, alas!
I read in his red my own fate, alas!
"So now, if you love me as fond and true
As all of you think that all of you do,
You will help me to wed
My 'Study in Red.'
Oh, kings and princes, now pray you, do!
You dear kings and princes, I beg of you, do!"
The kings and princes arose with a frown,
And first they looked up, and then they looked down.
Not a man of them spoke
Till he'd straightened his cloak,
And settled his wig, and adjusted his crown.