Classic Poem

I MET a pretty maiden in the rain,
And my heart was beating such a wild refrain.
As the lucky chance befell,
So I offered my umbrell',
And my courtesy to her was not in vain, vain, vain;
For she greeted me with such a winning smile
And her pretty cheeks were blushing thanks meanwhile;
There was something in her eye,
Bright and handsome, by the by,
That made me wish the journey was a mile, mile, mile!

" Pretty lass, " I said, " O my!
Do not raise your dress too high,
Or the little drops will patter on your shoe, shoe, shoe! "
" If your duty, sir, " said she,
" Is to keep the rain from me,
Casting glances at my foot will never do, do, do! "

A neck that would defy the painter's art:
Charming thing to separate the head and heart;
And the hand within my arm
Filled my senses with alarm
In the fear I 'd never get the twain apart-part-part!

And her lips were like the cherries wet with dew;
So delicious one must stop and taste a few.
But there 's nothing to compare,
Neither in the earth nor air,
With that pretty bit of nature in a shoe, shoe, shoe!

A charming little figure, so complete;
Such a pretty creature, good enough to eat!
Till you think fond Nature must
Use extraordinary dust
When creating pretty maidenhood so sweet, sweet, sweet!
Then I told her that her ancestry I knew —
If Old Mother Goose in history was true:
'Tis is a pedigree I prize
And I'd give my very eyes
For that pretty maiden living in a shoe, shoe, shoe!