SHOE AND FIDDLE. "Cock-a-doodle-doo! My dame has lost her shoe; And does n't know what to do." WHO's crowing, I wonder, to spread such a scandal Of the blithe-tripping dame who hath dropped off her sandal, And seemeth all sad and forlornly to shirk, Where she used, in good humor, to dance at her work? 186 SHOE AND FIDDLE. Perhaps honest chanticleer simply may glory In faithfully giving both sides of the story; And scorning the loss of the lady to tell Without owning the miss of the master as well. For how, when the fiddlestick 's gone, can be played The music, without which the dancing is stayed? When the man 's out of tune, the dear woman, 't is plain, Must wait till he graciously strikes up again. Let him hunt for his bow, then, and rosin it too, (If really he 'd like to be told what to do ;) |