Classic Poem

C ELLADON , when Spring came on,
Woo'd Silvia in a grove;
Both gay and young, and still he sung
The sweet delights of love:
Wedded joys, in girls and boys,
And pretty chat of this and that;
The honey kiss, and charming bliss
That crowns the marriage bed.
He snatched her hand, she blushed and fanned,
And seemed as if afraid;
" Forbear, " she cries, " your fawning lies,
I've vowed to die a maid. "

Celladon at that began
To talk of apes in Hell,
And what was worse, the odious curse
Of growing old and stale:
Loss of bloom, when wrinkles come,
And offers kind, when none will mind,
The rosy joy, and sparkling eye
Grown faded and decayed.
At which, when known, she changed her tone
And to the shepherd said:
" Dear swain, give o'er, I'll think once more
Before I die a maid. "