That I have simply stopped to say, "So charmed!"
And shuddering, sped hurriedly away!

OOK to the Married Men! Alas, their gains
Are neither here nor there, for all their pains.
For wedding bells are rung – and loudly rung
To drown the clanking of the Marriage Chains!

MOMENT'S halt – a little word or two —
And you have done what you can ne'er undo;
Promised to pay a Woman's bills for life —
Anchored yourself – and there's an end of you!

ND we, who now make merry at the gloom
Of those who thus have gone to meet their doom —
May we, ourselves, not some day follow suit,
Ourselves to be the Butt of jests – for whom?

NDEED, 'tis better to have loved and lost —
Taken the Kiss and fled, at any cost,
Than to have loved and married, and for aye,
Thereafter, by a Woman, to be bossed.

ITH me, along that strip of Broadway strewn
With lovely maids, each radiant afternoon,
And think, of all the thousands you behold,
That you can marry one – and only one!

UT, if the lip I kiss, the hand I press,
Upon the morrow seem to charm me less,
Ah well, am I not still a Bachelor,
And thus, entitled to – another Guess?

OME for the comforts of a club may sigh,
And some for a hermit's lonely life. Not I!
Give me a cozy hearthside, and a Girl
Always "at home" when I chance by!

ER cushioned chair a spot where I may curl
My weary form, and rest, beyond the whirl
Of madd'ning cares; to rise at half-past ten,
And call next night – upon another girl!

HY, if a man can thus, at ease, abide
Each evening by a different damsel's side,
Were't not a shame – were't not a shame, for him
To any one, forever to be tied?

ND so, the girls I've set my heart upon,
I've flattered, wooed a little – and anon,
Just as they thought to slip the fatal Noose
About my neck, behold – the Bird had flown!

OR this the argument that I submit —
Refute it, if you can, with all your wit!
That Luck in Love, for such as you and I,
Consists in safely keeping out of it!

…

HIS morn, I've quaffed at least a quart or more
Of water – yet am thirsty as before;
And that dark taste still lingers in the mouth
With which, last night, I reformation swore.

ET, when some Angel, with a saving drink
Of iced Nepenthe comes, I shall not shrink;
But, having drunk of it, shall feel again
As good and noble as before, I think.

ACH morn some fresh repentance brings, you say?
Yes – but where leaves the vows of Yesterday?