THE BACHELOR.

Southland Times, Volume VII, Issue 6, 6 July 1866, Page 3

THE BACHELOR.

Oh, solitude ! where ai'e thy charms ? — Cowpeb. No house and no home, no children, no wife, Ah ! who would not pity a bachelor's life ? He sleeps (so do oxen), he eats, and he drinks, But there's no one to care what he suffers o thinks. One woman he speaks to, but all she can say Is, "What will you have for your dinner to-day ?" On Monday some slight variation is made When the laundress comes in for her bill to be paid. Alas ! for the outcast from all he holds dear, With no one to love him, and no one to cheer ; With none that would mourn were he laid in the tomb — Except for the guinea he paid for his room. With no one to love, save a dog or a cat ; Ah ! why fill the soul with ait'ection for that ? As well hug the fish in the fathomless seas, As caress such insensible creatures as these. I'd as lief be a baby and cling to a doll, As fondle a poodle, cat, monkey, or poll ; Tis the speech of the soul that I long lor alone, The communion of spirits akin to mine own. Oh ! the chords of the heart, how intensely they yearn For some one to love who will love in return ; For some one to hear what no stranger must know ; For some one to cling to in weal and in woe — A some one to miss, when that one is away ; A some one to bless, when we kneel down to pray; Some " companion in arms " in the battle of life ; That " some one," ah ! who can it be F — but a wife. Bashful Maiden. Invercargill, 29th June, 1866.