L a d y C r i n o l i n e

by John Campbell Delano.

Illustration by Frank A. Nankivell.

AINTY Lady Crinoline,

Frail as the frailest porcelain,

Memory doth take me back

O’er Life’s long-forgotten track

Sweet as sweetest metheglin,

Dainty Lady Crinoline.

Dark thine hair as deepest night,

And thine eyes were stars alight,

Roses blushed thy cheeks to see.

Blessings on thee, Memory,

For this maid in bombazine,

Dainty Lady Crinoline.

Ankles slim as lily’s stem,

Tiny feet from out the hem

Of thy dress my heart entranced

When the minuet we danced.

Sweet, angelic cherubin,

Dainty Lady Crinoline!

“Dainty Lady Crinoline,

Frail as frailest porcelain; . . .

Ankles slim as lily’s stem.”