DOLLIE RADFORD 1858-1920

SOLILOQUY OF A MAIDEN AUNT

The ladies bow, and partners set,

And turn around and pirouette

And trip the Lancers.

But no one seeks my ample chair,

Or asks me with persuasive air

To join the dancers.

They greet me, as I sit alone

Upon my solitary throne,

And pass politely.

Yet mine could keep the measured beat,

As surely as the youngest feet,

And tread as lightly.

No other maiden had my skill 

In our old homestead on the hill -

That merry Maytime.

When Allan closed the flagging ball,

And danced with me before them all,

Until the daytime.

Again I laugh, and step alone,

And curtsey low as on my own

His strong hand closes.

But Allan now seeks staid delight,

His son there, brought my niece tonight

These early roses.

Time orders well, we have our Spring,

Our songs, our Mayflower gathering,

Our love and laughter.

And children chatter all the while,

And leap the brook and climb the stile

And follow after.

And yet - the step of Allan's son

Is not as light as was the one

That went before it.

And that old lace, I think, falls down

Less softly on Priscilla's gown

Than when I wore it.

-o0o-

Dollie Radford was the nom de plume of Caroline Maitland, the British poet and writer. Her friends included Eleanor Marx, the youngest daughter of Karl Marx.

-o=0=o-

NEXT POST - MONDAY

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-