I. BLESS me! what a rosy row Of girls at me their glances throw, As they gayly come and go, The light coquettish throng! Can't the darlings hear me say, "I have had my youthful day; Now I put such things away"? Girls! pass along! II. Ah, my Zoe! pray desist! Sooth, I care not to be kissed; Ask your mother if I list To Cupid's siren song. She -- but that is entre nous -- Knows what Love and I can do; Her advice you'd best pursue, -- Girls! pass along! III. Laura! you would hardly guess How your grandam used to press Lips of mine -- well -- I confess -- We did n't think it wrong; Look! she's coming! Tempt me not In gay saloon or shady grot; A jealous eye the dame has got, -- Girls! pass along! IV. You smiling too! you naughty Rose! I wonder, now, if you suppose I'm not aware what sort of beaux Around your beauty throng? I know the husband-hunting crew, And all the pretty tricks they do; I'm old, -- but much too young for you! Girls! pass along! V. Away, away! you madcaps! -- fly! Your roguish arts why will you try To bind a graybeard -- such as I -- With Cupid's slender thong? Yet, like a powder magazine, My heart from flying sparks I screen, The sparks that shoot from wanton een -- Girls! pass along! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SLEEP AT SEA by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI STARTING FROM PAUMANOK by WALT WHITMAN MYRTILLA by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH A BALLADE OF EVOLUTION by GRANT ALLEN LIFE'S LITTLE DAY by MARY BALL ARMSTRONG BODY AND SOUL by AWHAD AD-DIN 'ALI IBN VAHID MUHAMMAD KHAVARANI TO CHILDREN: 2. BRAGGARTS by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |