Take a warning, happy lover! by Henry S. Leigh.

                                                           Painter        Harrison Fisher

Oh, the days were ever shiny
    When I ran to meet my love;
When I press'd her hand so tiny
    Through her tiny tiny glove.
Was I very deeply smitten?
    Oh, I loved like anything!
But my love she is a kitten,
    And my heart's a ball of string.

She was pleasingly poetic,
    And she loved my little rhymes;
For our tastes were sympathetic,
    In the old and happy times.
Oh, the ballads I have written,
    And have taught my love to sing!
But my love she is a kitten,
    And my heart's a ball of string.

Would she listen to my offer,
    On my knees I would impart
A sincere and ready proffer
    Of my hand and of my heart.
And below her dainty mitten
    I would fix a wedding ring--
But my love she is a kitten,
    And my heart's a ball of string.

Take a warning, happy lover,
    From the moral that I show;
Or too late you may discover
    What I learn'd a month ago.
We are scratch'd or we are bitten
    By the pets to whom we cling.
Oh, my love she is a kitten,
    And my heart's a ball of string.

                                 Henry S. Leigh.