W S Gilbert

50 Bab Ballads, vol 1 W S Gilbert

Book Excerpt: ...mated!Ballad: TO MY BRIDE--(WHOEVER SHE MAY BE.) Oh! little maid!--(I do not know your nameOr who you are, so, as a safe precautionI'll add)--Oh, buxom widow! married dame!(As one of these must be your present portion) Listen, while I unveil prophetic lore for you, And sing the fate that Fortune has in store for you. You'll marry soon--within a year or twain -A bachelor of circa two and thirty: Tall, gentlemanly, but extremely plain, And when you're intimate, you'll call him "BERTIE."Neat--dresses well; his temper has been classifiedAs hasty; but he's very quickly pacified. You'll find him working mildly at the Bar, After a touch at two or three professions, From easy affluence extremely far, A brief or two on Circuit--"soup" at Sessions; A pound or two from whist and backing horses, And, say three hundred from his own resources. Quiet in harness; free from serious vice, His faults are not particul