free-verse34 lines

A Motor Courtship

Into her presence he gaily pranced,

A very fat spark, and a bit advanced.

With a Samson tread on the earth he trod,

He was stayed and gaitered, and fifty odd.

And she was a tulip just unfurled,

The sweetest thing in the motor world.

Her body was one of which poets dreamed;

Eighteen, twenty, or so she seemed.

Her air was haughty, her spirit proud,

But properly governed, as all allowed.

"Pity," he said, "my sad condition;

My heart's in a state of advanced ignition.

"Ask me to do some desperate deed,

And I'll do it at once at my topmost speed."

"Sir," said the maiden, "pray be seated;

I fear from your bearing you're somewhat heated.

"And I trust that a timely lubrication

Of throttle will cool your circulation."

As a well-made mixture she indicated,

With joy and gladness he radiated.

"Oh, come," said he, "in this soft spring weather,

Let us run over the world together!"

But she slipped his clutch with a gesture mocking,

"Your heart," she said; "I can hear it knocking.

"You haven't the gear at my pace to last;

Both men and motors, I like them fast.

"And I think that in me you have missed your mission;

You are only an old-style tube-ignition!"

With a sidelong motion he left the place;

For weal or woe he was off his base.

He drove his car to the cliffs of Dover,

Made one short circuit and ran her over.

And the stormy Petrol her rest is taking,

Where only the wild waves do the "brakeing".