If he's not what Orlando should be, love, 55 My own Araminta, say 'No!'

60

If he wears a top-boot in his wooing,
If he comes to you riding a cob,
if he talks of his baking or brewing,
If he puts up his feet on the hob,
If he ever drinks port after dinner,
If his brow or his breeding is low,
If he calls himself Thompson' or 'Skin-

ner,'

My own Araminta, say 'No!'

If he studies the news in the papers
While you are preparing the tea,
If he talks of the damps or the vapors
While moonlight lies soft on the sea,
If he's sleepy while you are capricious,
If he has not a musical 'Oh!'
If he does not call Werther delicious,-
My own Araminta, say 'No!'

If he ever sets foot in the City

Among the stockbrokers and Jews, If he has not a heart full of pity, If he don't stand six feet in his shoes, If his lips are not redder than roses, If his hands are not whiter than snow, If he has not the model of noses,My own Araminta, say 'No!'

If he speaks of a tax or a duty,

If he does not look grand on his knees, If he's blind to a landscape of beauty, Hills, valleys, rocks, waters, and trees, If he dotes not on desolate towers,

65

70

75

80

85

If he likes not to hear the blast blow, If he knows not the language of flowers,— My own Araminta, say 'No!'

He must walk-like a god of old story
Come down from the home of his rest; 90
He must smile-like the sun in his glory
On the buds he loves ever the best;
And oh! from its ivory portal

Like music his soft speech must flow!— If he speak, smile, or walk like a mortal, 95 My own Araminta, say 'No!'

Don't listen to tales of his bounty,

Don't hear what they say of his birth, Don't look at his seat in the county, Don't calculate what he is worth;

100

But give him a theme to write verse on,
And see if he turns out his toe;
If he's only an excellent person,—
My own Araminta, say 'No!'

(1844)