The Vagabond and Other Poems from Punch by R. C. Lehmann
page 51 of 84 (60%)
page 51 of 84 (60%)
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Between the said contractress, that is to say,
And a person with whom she is often good enough to play; Who happens to have been something of a factor In bringing her into the world, who, in short, is her father, And is hereinafter spoken of as the said contractor. Now the said contractress declares she would rather Marry the said contractor than any other. At the same time she affirms with the utmost steadiness Her perfect readiness To take any other fellow on as a brother. Still, she means to marry her father, and to be his wife, And to live happily with him all the rest of her life. This contract is made without consideration, And is subject to later ratification. The said contractress had it read through to see that nothing was missed, And she took her pen, and she held it tight in a chubby and cramped-up fist, And she made her mark with a blotted cross, instead of signing her name; And the said contractor he signed in full, and they mean to observe the same._ "Now give me, Peg, that old brown shoe, that battered shoe of yours, I'll stow the contract in its toe, and, if the shoe endures, When sixteen years or so are gone, I'll hunt for it myself And take it gently from its drawer, or get it from its shelf. "And when, mid clouds of scattered rice, through all the wedding whirl A laughing fellow hurries out a certain graceless girl, |
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