LINES IN PLEASANT PLACES.
Reading edition
ON THE ICE.
When the sun was shining brightly, When the world was gleaming whitely, And Jack Frost held Nature tightly In a vice, It was joy supreme, though fleeting, Fair Amanda to be greeting, When the country side was meeting On the ice! Happy he whom smile the Fates on, Whom they shower tête-à-têtes on, How I used to whip her skates on In a trice! And, as off we'd skim cross-handed, Leaving all my rivals stranded, I was glad, to be quite candid, On the ice! How we gave evasive answers, When they praised our skill as dancers, And to skate a set of lancers Would entice; How we thought them crude and "crocky" Loving pairs to try and jockey Into wild delights of hockey On the ice! To the figure-skating shilling Snug inclosure we were willing To subscribe—'twas cheap but thrilling At the price: Yet the busy scandal-riggers With sarcastic little sniggers Talked of people "cutting figures" On the ice!
All my heart, as I would hold her Little hands in mine, a-smoulder— 'Twas a fact I nearly told her Once or twice: But, each time, what put a stopper On my declaration proper Was a sweet and timely cropper On the ice! Then the thaw came. Oh, the bother! Oh, the words we had to smother! Ne'er again we'll find each other Half so nice: Now Amanda's always seizing Opportunities of teasing; Oh, she wasn't half so "freezing" On the ice!
Mrs. R. wants to know where that old quotation comes from, so applicable now—
"And Freedom shrieked when Paderewski played!"
Of course Freedom went into the free seats (if any) and shrieked with delight.