(_By Omar Khayyam._)
["WANTED.--An UP and DOWN GIRL; aged 16; English;
strong."--_Advertisement in "Times," August 7._]
[Illustration]
Tell me, mysterious maiden, when and whence
And where and wherefore and on what pretence
You're "up-and-down"--this riddle rede, I pray,
And rid my bosom of a care immense!
Does "up" mean sky-high, "down," upon the ground?
Is't on a see-saw that you bob and bound?
There's more in this than meets the eye, I fear--
I cannot rest until the clue be found.
Are you a damsel, too, that's in-and-out,
And there-and-back, and also round-about?
You may be all at once for aught I know,
For all I know is clouded o'er with doubt.
Pray, have you golden hair all down your back
A-hanging? Is there something that you lack
To play with, love, adore--as, say, a bike
Whereon to travel up and down a track?
What though I've never met you in the throng,
I'm glad you're English-born, sixteen, and strong;
Life has its ups and downs (more downs than ups),
But you're a _new_ sort--hence this idle song!
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