So when David sought permission he was just a bit obscure—
Which was laid to nervous tension such as lovers must endure.
May I win your noblest daughter? Both fond parents gave consent;
Thinking Belle the one intended—straight to her the father went.
Belle, too vain to hold the secret, poured it in the ears of May:
How the heart grows disappointed when a hope has gone astray.
As a graduate from college, David had excuse for staying,
But he gave the pair no inkling of the love-game he was playing.
Through the summer and the autumn David studied well his art:
Read up Cupid on devotion and the psychics of the heart.