A Love Song (with Reservations)

With Reservations

Speaking at a conference in London, the Rev. R. F. Horton asked, “Would it be better to marry on trial and serve a novitiate before entering into permanent vows?”

He:

Darling! I love you (for the moment)
    madly!
Fain would I have you grill my
    breakfast chop.
But if, dear heart, you do the job too
    badly
This sentimental rot will have to
    stop.
Today I am your footstool, dear, your
    slave!
But I'll forget it if you don't behave.

She:

My Prince! I (for the time) swoon
    with emotion
When you are near! All other men
    I've met
Are duds beside you, dear. But I've
    no notion
Of acting like a simpleton, my pet.
Breakfast in bed, frocks, frills and all
    the rest
Must hold me, sweetheart, or I'll
    leave the nest.

He:

Mine own! I vow (at present) I adore
    you!
I yearn! I pant! Let us be wed to-
    day!
And if, say in a week I seem to bore
    you,
Just tip the wink and I shall fade
    away.
And, if my socks and singlets you
    neglect,
I'll murmur "?????" —or words to that
    effect!

She:

Ah, love! If the devotion of a lifetime
    Is aught to you, accept it (for a
    week).
But if you nag and criticise your wife,
    time
And again, some other love I'll seek.
My love, my passion is a raging flame!
But, pet, I'll douse it if our life
    grows tame.

Both:

Oh, let us sing of constancy and true
    love!
(Unless, dear heart, you give to me
    the icy.)
My soul, my being thrills at thoughts
    of you, love!
Let us away and have a wedding ????
    And, if, within a month, it seems to
    suit,
May hap we'll make the marriage
    absolute.