By something I hear very nearly each day.
In a small town like ours, as you know, every rumour
Gets about in a truly remarkable way.
It is too much to hope for that women won't prattle,
But I candidly tell you, I do feel enraged
When I find that a part of their stock tittle-tattle
Is that we—how I laugh at the thought!—are engaged.
Though you don't even claim to be reckoned as pretty,
You are not, I admit it, aggressively plain.
You dress pretty well, and your talk, if not witty,