In Other Words/The Ballade of the Northern Girl
The Ballade of the Northern Girl
Her manner was perfectly sweet And golden the hue of her hair;She was pretty, of course, and petite; And when you would ask of her: “‘Where Are you from?” she would answer: “Eau Claire,Wisconsin. What? ‘Baltimore’? Nixie! What made you think I was from there?” . . . . She always applauded at “Dixie.”
She was fair from her head to her feet; She was—oh, description’s despair,As she rose from her orchestra seat And pounded her gloves to a tear— This dear little maid from Bellaire,Ohio. Ingenuous, tricksy. “New Orleans? No! . . . How you stare!” . . . .She always applauded at “Dixie.”
She is found in the shop and the street; She sits in a restaurant chair;She may be bourgeois or élite; But she thrills to the Southerner’s air. From Portsmouth, N. H., and Big Bear,N. Y., this ubiquitous pixie. Though blue was her grandfather’s wear,She always applauded at ‘‘Dixie.”
L’EnvoiO Epitaph-makers, prepare This sentence, and chisel it quick, see:HERE LIETH MISS LEGION, THE FAIR:SHE ALWAYS APPLAUDED AT “DIXIE.”