With a ha! ha! ha! and a tra-la-lalla,[A]
He stroked the red beard on his chin,
With a ha! ha! ha! and a tra-la-lalla,
And I have never seen him again.
[Footnote A: The reader may here recollect the fine ballad of
Bürger, "Der Ritter und sein Liebchen;" and the verse—
Drauf ritt der Ritter hop sa! sa!
Und strich sein Bartchen trallala;
Sein Leibchen sah ihn reiten
Und hörte noch von weiten
Sein Lachen ha! ha! ha!
]
[The maidens thought the humour gala,
And, laughing, they chorused to the strain,
"With a ha! ha! ha! and a tra-la-lalla,
And you have never seen him again.">[
Now, dears! if your lovers you would not lose them,
Tak' counsel—it is not an hour ower sune:
Be sure that in holy bands ye noose them
Before you let them tak' aff their shune.
[The maidens thought they would amuse them,
And, laughing, they chorused to the tune,
"Oh yes, we in holy bands will noose them
Before we let them tak' aff their shune.">[
XXI.
THE BALLAD OF MATRIMONY.
"Come, now tell me, Clarabella,
How that wondrous thing befell,
Why you took that sorry fellow,
Leaving me who loved you well?
It was, good faith! a sad miscarriage,
And cost me many a pang of pain;
Indeed, when I heard of your marriage,
I vowed I ne'er would love again."
"Well, I don't mind, since you're pathetic,
And so the reason you shall hear:
Th' affair was one of arithmetic—
A matter of so much a year.
His father left five thousand good
Of pounds per annum, as you know,
And you possessed, I understood,
Of yearly thousands only two."