  “Good-nature and good-sense must ever join; —Pope. PENELOPE, a Spartan maid, The brave Ulysses wooed and wed, She in a modest blush arrayed, He with a crown upon his head. Two hearts that beat as one—no tear Bedimmed their bliss for one whole year; At Ithaca they dwelt in peace— Not Ithaca, New York—but Greece. Alas! Scarce had been born their boy, An infant very fair and bright, When came a horrid war in Troy And papa had to go and fight. He left Penelope in tears— He went and stayed for years and years; And while away, I am afraid, He sometimes wooed another maid. In many lands he dwelt as guest Of ladies of exceeding beauty; Ulysses, it must be confessed, In flirting quite forgot his duty. He flirted here, he flirted there, In fact he flirted everywhere— With Calypso, Nausicaa, Circe— And he a man of family—Mercy! Penelope, dissolved in tears, Bewailed her spouse—the faithless Turk! And stood off suitors twenty years By doing endless fancy work. By day she made her stitches right, But pulled them out again by night, Until her husband, tired of larks, Came home and slew that bunch of sparks. The husband, even though he err And lead abroad a lively life, Dislikes, when he comes back to her, To find that others woo his wife. Ulysses lacked in morals—true, But she had quite enough for two— May Eros grant a wife to me As patient as Penelope! |
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