I bought for a penny a twopenny loaf,
Of wheat, and nothing more;
I danced with a female philosophe,
Who was not quite a bore.

The kitchens there had richer roast,
The sheep wore whiter wool;
I read a witty Morning Post,
And an innocent John Bull:

The gaolers had nothing at all to do,
The hangman looked forlorn,

And the Peers had passed a vote or two
For freedom of trade in corn.

There was a crop of wheat, which grew
Where plough was never brought;
There was a noble Lord, who knew
What he was never taught:
A scheme appeared in the Gazette
For a lottery with no blanks;
And a Parliament had lately met,

Without a single Bankes.

And there were kings who never went
To cuffs for half-a-crown;

And lawyers who were eloquent
Without a wig and gown;

And sportsmen who forbore to praise
Their greyhounds and their guns;
And poets who deserved the bays,
And did not dread the duns.

And boroughs were bought without a test,
And no man feared the Pope;
And the Irish cabins were all possest

Of liberty and soap;

And the Chancellor, feeling very sick,

Had just resigned the seals;

And a clever little Catholic

Was hearing Scotch appeals.

I went one day to a Court of Law

Where a fee had been refused;

And a Public School I really saw
Where the rod was never used;

And the sugar still was very sweet,
Though all the slaves were free;
And all the folk in Downing Street
Had learnt the rule of three.

There love had never a fear or doubt;
December breathed like June:

The Prima Donna ne'er was out

Of temper-or of tune;

The streets were paved with mutton pies,
Potatoes ate like pine;

Nothing looked black but woman's eyes;
Nothing grew old but wine.

It was an idle dream; but thou,

The worshipped one, wert there,

With thy dark clear eyes and beaming brow, White neck and floating hair;

And oh, I had an honest heart,

And a house of Portland stone;

And thou wert dear, as still thou art,

And more than dear, my own!

Oh bitterness!-the morning broke

Alike for boor and bard;

And thou wert married when I woke,
And all the rest was marred:

And toil and trouble, noise and steam,
Came back with the coming ray;
And, if I thought the dead could dream,
I'd hang myself to-day!

MARRIAGE CHIMES

Go together,

You precious winners all. - WINTER'S TALE.

FAIR Lady, ere you put to sea,
You and your mate together,
I meant to hail you lovingly,

And wish you pleasant weather.
I took my fiddle from the shelf;
But vain was all my labour;
For still I thought about myself,
And not about my neighbour.

Safe from the perils of the war,

Nor killed, nor hurt, nor missing—

Since many things in common are Between campaigns and kissing— Ungrazed by glance, unbound by ring, Love's carte and tierce I've parried, While half my friends are marrying, And half-good lack!—are married.