Said she, “I loved a soldier once,
For he was blythe and brave;
But I will never have a man
With both legs in the grave!
VIII.
“Before you had those timber toes,
Your love I did allow,
But then, you know, you stand upon
Another footing now!”
IX.
“O, Nelly Gray! O, Nelly Gray!
For all your jeering speeches,
At duty’s call, I left my legs
In Badajos’s breaches!”
X.
“Why, then,” said she, “you’ve lost the feet
Of legs in war’s alarms,
And now you cannot wear your shoes
Upon your feats of arms!”
XI.
“O, false and fickle Nelly Gray!
I know why you refuse:
Though I’ve no feet—some other man
Is standing in my shoes!