And each one thinks before she acts of—What will Grundy say?

Mr. Tompkins fail’d last fall, and is not worth a red,

But still he lives upon the “Fifth,” and still holds up his head.

They keep their carriage all the same, though not a dime they pay;

They can’t retrench a cent, for shame of—What would Grundy say?

There’s Mary Jane, she’s tall and slim, a sack of bonesshe’s grown,

And brown as any Gipsy girl, and awkward as a clown;

Yet she must wear her dresses low, and her thin neck display,

For ’tis the fashion; and you know, What would Dame Grundy say?

There’s Mrs. Jones, she’s fifty-four, and still she curls her hair,