Rosemary and Pansies/Miriam's Lovers

by Bertram Dobell

MIRIAM'S LOVERS

"I love the maiden passing well,"
Said Smith; "her figure's neat;
You may go far a prettier belle
Before yon chance to meet."

"A devilish pretty girl," said Scott,
"She's just as sweet as honey,
But then two things she lacks: she's got
Neither good birth nor money."

"She's chic," said White, "and I in her
Each day new charms discover;
Most truthfully I can aver
That, next myself, I love her."

"Somehow the girl my fancy takes,
Though why I cannot tell:
But there are plenty more," said Raikes,
"I like almost as well."

"Few maids there are," said Jones, "whom I
So fervently admire,
But I have noticed in her eye
A leopard's tameless fire."

"I want a wife," said Brown, "and since
I've jilted been by Fanny,
To make the faithless creature wince
I'll Miriam wed—or Annie."

Said Robinson, "No other maid
Such passion can inspire;
A frenzy not to be gainsaid,
That fills my veins with fire."

Said Black, "The maiden I adore
As with a saint's devotion
The sacredest of shrines before,—
A still and rapt emotion."

"She's full of wild caprice," said Green,
"And strange and fitful fancies,
But in her alone of all I've seen
A spirit of romance is."

"Ah me! I love her much," sighed Page,
"But then a bird so gay
Would need a gorgeous golden cage,
And ever sing 'pay, pay.'"

"She's of her sex the perfect flower,"
Said Harrison, "about her
There's such a strange magnetic power
Life's nothing worth without her."

Guess now, of all who bent the knee,
Who finally enchained her?
Alas! I can't but fear that he
Who least deserved her gained her.