If you dote but don't succeed,
smile indifference, very shortly
careless eyes will care indeed,
even though you're pale or portly.

Women are a funny lot.
They don't respect the grov'ling gent.
They'll let him, in his fancies, rot
till all his hard earned cash is spent.

While less deserving, wiser men
mount Valentine's benignant throne,
the jilted, time and time again,
are Romeos who weep alone.

These unrequited hearts complain
of Love's unscrupulous career
or rage against the skies in vain
or offer Death a volunteer

and, till their red-rimmed eyes have seen
the spectrum and the shades of love,
they must be counted young and green
and shall, until they ripen, starve.

Such a love-lorn lad was I,
soiling his pillow with his woes
but, when the flooded cheeks were dry,
tapping his finger on his nose.

For by the hard way, one would glean
a lesson others were not taught:
that joy today, how ever keen,
tomorrow may be brought to naught.

Make no mistake, females respect
and cling to those with strength of mind.
They're bound by Nature to select
the right man for and from mankind.

So don't go blaming some young miss
for giving you the frozen shoulder.
Give the lass a farewell kiss.
She'll yield when but a little older.

Lastly, though indiff'rence can
be useful in your wars to wield,
it's less than half the battle-plan.
God speed upon the battlefield!