My first was a lady whose dominant passion

Was thorough devotion to parties and fashion;

My second, regardless of conjugal duty,

Was only the worse for her wonderful beauty;

My third was a vixen in temper and life,

Without one essential to make a good wife;

Jubilate! at last in my freedom I revel,

For I’m clear of the world, and the flesh and the devil.

Horse-Breaker and Gray Mare

In a discussion upon refractory rhyming in the London Athenæum, it was contended that there is no word that will rhyme with step. This ex cathedra decision evoked the following lines: