The Ready Reply

"But sister dear," a brother said,
"Do you then never mean to wed?

"Oh wait! At this my tender age
"I would not yet my hand engage."

"Yet might I trust the public voice,
"You have already made the choice."

"So people talk, and talk they may,
"Believe not all that gossips say."

"And who was then the handsome knight
"Rode from your door with morning's light?"

"No knight — no high-born cavalier:
"My stable-boy and his horse were here."

"Then near your bed two pair of shoes!
"Now whose were they? pray, tell me whose."

"No man's shoe, brother, think not so,
"'Twas but my slippers lay below."

"And then that little cherub head,
"Was lately sleeping upon your bed?"

"No cherub that, or baby small;
"What lay there sleeping was my doll."

"How heard I then in passing by
"Within your door an infant cry?"

"So cry not infants; 'twas my maid
"Because of a wardrobe key mislaid."

"And pray, what might the cradle mean
"So slily hid behind the screen?

"No cradle; be not rash to blame,
"You've seen perhaps my broidery frame.

"And if you, brother, more will know,
"With answers I shall not be slow,"

When women fail to make reply,
Then look to see the ocean dry.