"I'd scarcely believe
How deeply you grieve
At the mischief your eyes have been making!"

Now, Nellie!--Flirtation's the leaven of life;
It lightens its doughy compactness.
Don't always--the world with deception is rife--
Construe what men say with exactness!
I pity the girl,
In society's whirl,
Who's troubled with matter-of-factness.

A pink is a beautiful flower in its way,
But rosebuds and violets are charming,
Men don't wear the same _boutonniére_ every day.
Taste changes.--Flirtation alarming!
If e'er we complain,
You then may refrain,
Your eyes of their arrows disarming.

Ah, Nellie, be sensible; Pr'ythee, give heed
To counsel a victim advances;
Your eyes, I acknowledge, will make our hearts bleed,
Pierced through by love's magical lances.
But better that fate
Than in darkness to wait;
Unsought by your mischievous glances.