There’s a new chap born in the world to-day,
And an axe laid close to the root of doubt,
When I hear you speak in that soulful way
Of a love to last till the stars go out——
But, Mignonette!
Will you love me yet
When the duns come in? ... ’Tis an even bet.
Ah! I try to think, as I feel your breath,
Like a perfume thrown from a Glory rose,
That our path will lead (as the poet saith)
In a pleasant field, where the wild thyme blows——
But, wife of mine!
Will your star still shine
When he’s loaded down to the Plimsoll line?
Oh, I like you thus, with your nut-brown hair
In a wilderness, as I saw you first;
And I love you much as a man may dare
Who is torn asunder ’twixt love and thirst——
Pray tell me, dear!
Will the wind-vane veer
When I hang my pants on the chandelier?
And will Passion’s flower still bloom as red,—
Will you shrink right over against the wall,—
When I tumble into the nuptial bed
With my harness on, and my boots and all?
Will you have resource
To a plain divorce
When I smell of hops like a brewer’s horse?
Will your faith still shine when the world grows grey?
When the Autumn comes, will your heart grow sere?
Will you wear the smile that you wear to-day
When you wear the hat that you wore last year?
Girl, keep your vow!
Things will shape somehow—
And we’ll take our toll from the lap of Now!
[Decoration: Gold mining camp]