WHILE all to this auspicious day

Well pleased their heartfelt homage pay

And sweetly smile and softly say

My Muse shall strike her tuneful strings,

Nor scorn the gift her duty brings,

Tho’ humble be the theme she sings,—

Soon shall the tailor’s subtle art

Have made them tight, and spruce, and smart,

And fastened well in every part

Mark then the moral of my song,

Oh, may your lives but prove as strong,

And wear as well, and last as long,

And when, to ease the load of life,

Of private care, and public strife,

My lot shall give to me a wife,

For worth like thine alone I pray,

Temper like thine serene and gay,

And formed like thee to give away,