Had heard of his defiant rage:
His ma was nearly eighty-two,
And rather dressy for her age.
At Hance's doings every morn,
With sheer delight his mother cried;
And Monsieur Pierre's contemptuous scorn
Filled his mamma with proper pride.
But Hance's powers began to fail—
His constitution was not strong—
And Pierre, who once was stout and hale,