( THE BARITONE'S BOUDOIR BALLAD )

Eyes that looked down into mine,

With a longing that seemed to say

Is it too late, dear heart, to wait

For the dawn of a brighter day?

Is it too late to laugh at fate?

See how the teardrops start!

Can we not weather the tempest together,

Dear Heart, Dear Heart?

Lips that I pressed to my own,

As I gazed at her yielding form,—

Turned with a groan, and then hastened alone

Into the teeth of the Storm!

Long, long ago! Still the winds blow!

Far have we drifted apart!

You live with Mother, and I love — another!

Dear Heart, Dear Heart!

At times some drinking-song inspires

Our hero to a vocal burst,

Until his audience, too, acquires

The most prodigious thirst.

And nobody would ever think

That milk was his peculiar drink!

What spacious days his song recalls,

When each monastic brotherhood

Could brew, within its private walls,

A vintage just as good

As that which restaurants purvey

As “rare old Tawny Port” to-day!