Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/458

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TOUJOURS LES FEMMES.
So richly gilt, and so superbly wrought!""You're right," says Peter, "'twas the Frame that caught:I grant my wife is ugly, squabby, old,But still she pleases—being set in gold;Let others for the Picture feel a flame,I, my good brother, married for the Frame!"
Toujours Les Femmes.
I think it was a Persian king Who used to say, that evermoreIn human life each evil thing Comes of the sex that men adore;That nought, in brief, had e'er befell To harm or grieve our hapless race,But, if you probe the matter well, You'll find a woman in the case!
And then the curious tale is told How, when upon a certain nightA climbing youngster lost his hold, And, falling from a ladder's height,Was found, alas! next morning dead, His majesty, with solemn face,As was his wont, demurely said, "Pray, who's the woman in the case?"
And how a lady in his Court, Who deemed the royal whim absurd,Rebuked him while she made report Of the mischance that late occurred;Whereat the king replied in glee, "I've heard the story, please your grace,And all the witnesses agree There was a woman in the case!
"The truth, your ladyship, is this, (Nor is it marvellous at all,)The youth was climbing for a kiss, And got, instead, a fatal fall.Whene'er a man—as I have said— Falls from a ladder, or from grace,Or breaks his faith, or breaks his head, There is a woman in the case!"
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