The half-forgotten time when he,

A boy of nine, had worshipped vainly

A governess of forty-three!

"My boy," he said, in tone consoling,

"Give up this idle fancy—do—

The song you heard my daughter trolling

Did not, indeed, refer to you.

"I feel for you, poor boy, acutely;

I would not wish to give you pain;

Your pangs I estimate minutely,—