THE PERJURY OF A REJECTED LOVER

By John Kendrick Bangs

WHEN I was twenty-one, I swore,

If I should ever wed,

The maiden that I should adore

Should have a classic head;

Should have a form quite Junoesque;

A manner full of grace;

A wealth of hirsute picturesque

Above a piquant face.

But I, alas! am perjured, for

I’ ve wed a dumpy lass

I much despised in days of yore,

Of quite the plainest class,

Because each maiden of my dream,

Whose favor I did seek,

Was so opposed unto my scheme

I married Jane in pique.