Grandma told me all about it,
Told me so I couldn't doubt it,
How she danced, my grandma danced; long ago--
How she held her pretty head,
How her dainty skirt she spread,
How she slowly leaned and rose--long ago.
Grandma's hair was bright and sunny,
Dimpled cheeks, too, oh, how funny!
Really quite a pretty girl--long ago.
Bless her! why, she wears a cap,
Grandma does and takes a nap
Every single day: and yet
Grandma danced the minuet--long ago.
"Modern ways are quite alarming,"
Grandma says, "but boys were charming"
(Girls and boys she means of course) "long ago."
Brave but modest, grandly shy;
She would like to have us try
Just to feel like those who met
In the graceful minuet--long ago.
--_Mary Mapes Dodge._
[1] From "Along the Way," copyright 1879 by Mary Mapes Dodge,
and published by Chas. Scribner's Sons.