["Since the defeat of the Home Rule Bill they (the Irish Party) have all been engaged in blackening each other's characters, and painting each other's portraits; and I venture to say that the result of that is not a gallery of pictures, but a Chamber of Horrors.">[
THE COMPLAINT OF THE MODERN LOVER.
My peerless but progressive Fair, To you my heart I proffer. Time was when one knew where you were, And how to make an offer. Now, all too swiftly you advance For Damon to pursue you. Take pity on his ignorance, And tell him how to woo you!
If strong on Woman's Rights you are, Upon her wrongs I'll ponder: I'll win for you a Wanderjahr, If I with you may wander. Or does Humanity enthrall? Before the summer passes I'll run a moral Music Hall To renovate the Masses.
Say, shall I write to you in verse Of metre strange and frantic, Which by neglect of barriers Proves genius gigantic? Is modern fiction dear to you? In scandal while I grovel, I will endeavour to outdo Its most pernicious novel!
Belovèd, of which patent creed Shall I uplift the banner? By telepathy shall I plead, Or in the usual manner? If after Occult Truth you grope, Though now I'm no Mahatma, From earthly bonds I yet might hope— For you—to free my Atma!
Shall I by Geomancy show Your lot and mine united, The sign of Acquisitio Foretelling love requited? Or shall I from the planets prove That long before I knew you Our fates were linked? My modern love, Oh, tell me how to woo you!
