Morning Republican

LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI.
In fancy I cherished her dearly,
And I longed for a place in her heart;
But my share in the property, clearly,
Is reduced to a minimum part.
Not to say that with soft agitation,
Her soul ne'er responsively burns,
But with wonderful skill in rotation
She returns all our passions by turns.
I knew she was rather flirtatious,
But her appetite puzzles me quite;
For I never knew flirt so voracious
As to take in a dozen at sight!
In her tablets, to save her confusion,
Not a doubt but she has us all pat.
Marked and labeled by grades of delusion.
Fortune, stature, complexion, aetat.
But 'twould save her such care and reflection
If she made us all trill at her nod,
Let us languish and ogle by section,
And sigh out our souls by the squad.
'Tis a pleasure sometimes to be jealous,
And to serve out one rival is prime:
But how can you hate twenty fellows,
Or punch twenty heads at a time?
It is all very well for Othello
To decline to "count in" number two;
But suppose he's but twentieth fellow,
Pray what's a poor fellow to do?
For a spoony of my constitution,
'Tisn't quite the ideal of bliss
To get smiles at the hundredth dilution,
Or the echoed reflex of a kiss.
Just to dwell in her heart were ecstatic,
If one lodged bel-etage au premier;
But a little sky-den in the attic--
Gas and chimney-pots o'er the way
For such living en pension--thank'ee!
I prefer a whole floor, not a shelf.
Very like I am exacting and cranky.
But I want all the room to myself
Here she comes, in her beauty's effulgence,
Looking sweet and benign as a saint.
With her glance of sad, pitying indulgence,
Till my soul-fibers quiver and faint.
With that smile, too, of infantile candor..
How it makes my heart tremble and beat!
I repent me my imbecile slander.
And could weep out my sins at her feet!
Hallo! what? Who's that cad with her talking
Was there such a coquette ever seen!
With Brown, Robinson, Jones, she's been walking,
And now, by the gods! she's hooked Green
Oh! this won't do! There's no use in trying!
For a stern resolution I'm rife.
If she asks for me, Tom, say I'm dying,
I'm off for the club and a pipe.