(_By an Usher._)
With weary brain I hear again
The drowsy urchins stammer, O,
From _mensa_ down through every noun
That's in the Latin grammar, O!
And when declensions pall, why then,
The exercise to vary, O,
I bid them show how well they know
My sweet, sweet verb, _Amare_, O!
"_Amo_, _amas_,--I love a lass,"
Her dainty name is NANCY, O,
And none but she shall ever be
The darling of my fancy, O!
_Amavi_--well, in love I fell,
And sure 'twas no vagary, O,
For since that day I've learnt the way
To conjugate _Amare_, O!
I whisper now, "_Ama_, Love thou!"
Amongst the fields of barley, O,
And NANCE replies, with brimming eyes,
"I love, I love thee, CHARLIE, O!"
_Amo_, _ama_, the livelong day
I'll teach my winsome fairy, O,
For has not she resolved with me
To conjugate _Amare_, O?
* * * * *
[Illustration: CAUTION.
_The Major._ "DON'T YOU LIKE LIQUEURS, MRS. JINKS?"
_Mrs. Jinks._ "YES; BUT THEY MAKE ONE SO _UNRESERVED_!"]
* * * * *