And keep myself neat,

Dress in my new black gown by tea,

And streamer'd cap to it.

The brisk young men were plenty enough,

And talk about them plenty

Among us maids! No other stuff

Contents the tongue at twenty.

But Mother's words came back to me,

Told when I was little:

Mind you, the tongue's your only key,

And what it guards is brittle.

Love is the best; let go the rest,

But hold him by the wing

Until he's plumaged for the test—

Then let him soar and sing.

[Pg 30]

I took no harm of all their talk—

All talkt the same—

Tho' more than one askt me to walk

When my Sunday came;

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