The vicomte is wearing a brow of gloom
As he mounts the stair to his favorite room.
" Breakfast for two! " the garçons say,
" Then the pretty young lady is coming to-day! "
But the patron mutters, A Dieu ne plaise!
I want no clients from Pere la Chaise.
Silver and crystal — a splendid show!
And a damask cloth white as driven snow.
The vicomte sits down with a ghastly air, —
His vis-a-vis is an empty chair.
BuThe calls to the garçon , " Antoine! Vite!
Place a stool for the lady's feet. "
" The lady, monsieur? " (in a wavering tone).
" Yes — when have you known me to breakfast alone?
Fill up her glass! Versez! Versez!
You see how white are her cheeks to-day:
Sip it, my darling, 't was ordered for thee. "
He raises his glass, " A toi , Mimi! "
The garçon shudders, for nothing is there
In the lady's place but an empty chair.
But still, with an air of fierce unrest,
The vicomte addresses an unseen guest.
" Leave us, Antoine: we have much to say,
And time is precious to me to-day. "
When the garçon was gone he sprang up with a start:
" Mimi is dead of a broken heart.
Could I think, when she gave it with generous joy,
A woman's heart such a fragile toy?
Her trim little figure no longer I see!
Would I were lying with thee, Mimi!
For what is life but a hell to me?
What splendor and wealth but misery? "
A jet of flame and a whirl of smoke!
A detonation the silence broke.
The landlord enters, and lying there
Is the dead vicomte, with a stony glare
Rigidly fixed on an empty chair.
" Il faut avertir le commissaire!
Ma foi! Chez Brebant ces choses sont rares! "
As he mounts the stair to his favorite room.
" Breakfast for two! " the garçons say,
" Then the pretty young lady is coming to-day! "
But the patron mutters, A Dieu ne plaise!
I want no clients from Pere la Chaise.
Silver and crystal — a splendid show!
And a damask cloth white as driven snow.
The vicomte sits down with a ghastly air, —
His vis-a-vis is an empty chair.
BuThe calls to the garçon , " Antoine! Vite!
Place a stool for the lady's feet. "
" The lady, monsieur? " (in a wavering tone).
" Yes — when have you known me to breakfast alone?
Fill up her glass! Versez! Versez!
You see how white are her cheeks to-day:
Sip it, my darling, 't was ordered for thee. "
He raises his glass, " A toi , Mimi! "
The garçon shudders, for nothing is there
In the lady's place but an empty chair.
But still, with an air of fierce unrest,
The vicomte addresses an unseen guest.
" Leave us, Antoine: we have much to say,
And time is precious to me to-day. "
When the garçon was gone he sprang up with a start:
" Mimi is dead of a broken heart.
Could I think, when she gave it with generous joy,
A woman's heart such a fragile toy?
Her trim little figure no longer I see!
Would I were lying with thee, Mimi!
For what is life but a hell to me?
What splendor and wealth but misery? "
A jet of flame and a whirl of smoke!
A detonation the silence broke.
The landlord enters, and lying there
Is the dead vicomte, with a stony glare
Rigidly fixed on an empty chair.
" Il faut avertir le commissaire!
Ma foi! Chez Brebant ces choses sont rares! "