I'm in love with Neighbor Nelly,
Though I know she's only ten;
While I am five and forty,
And the married-est of men.
I've a wife as fat as butter,
And a baby—such a boy!
With the plumpest cheeks and shoulders,
Who's his father's dearest joy.
Though a Square toes and a Buffer,
Still I've sunshine in my heart;
Still I'm fond of tops and marbles
Can appreciate a tart.
I can love my Neighbor Nelly,
Just as though I were a boy,
And would hand her cakes and apples,
From my depths of corduroy.
She is tall, and growing taller;
She is vigorous of limb;
(You should see her playing soldiers
With her little brother Jim!)
She has eyes as blue as damsons;
She has pounds of auburn curls;
She regrets the game of leapfrog
Is prohibited to girls.
I adore my Neighbor Nelly,
I invite her in to tea,
And I let her nurse the baby
Her delightful ways to see.
Such a darling bud of woman!
Yet remote from any teens;
I have learnt from Neighbor Nelly
What the girls' doll instinct means.
Oh! to see her with the baby!
(He adores her more than I);
How she choruses his crowing,
How she hushes every cry!
How she loves to pit his dimples
With her light forefinger deep;
How she boasts, as one in triumph,
When she gets him off to sleep!
We must part, my Neighbor Nelly,
For the summers quickly flee;
And the middle-aged admirer
Must, too soon, supplanted be.
Yet, as jealous as a mother,
A suspicious, cankered churl,
I look vainly for the setting,
To be worthy such a pearl!