| Fuess and Stearns, comps. The Little Book of Society Verse. 1922. | | | | To Phœbe | | By William Schwenck Gilbert |
| | | “GENTLE, modest, little flower, | |
| Sweet epitome of May, | |
| Love me but for half-an-hour, | |
| Love me, love me, little fay.” | |
| Sentences so fiercely flaming | 5 |
| In your tiny shell-like ear, | |
| I should always be exclaiming | |
| If I loved you, PHŒBE, dear. | |
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| “Smiles that thrill from any distance | |
| Shed upon me while I sing! | 10 |
| Please ecstaticise existence, | |
| Love me, oh, thou fairy thing!” | |
| Words like these, outpouring sadly, | |
| You’d perpetually hear, | |
| If I loved you, fondly, madly;— | 15 |
| But I do not, PHŒBE, dear. | | | | |
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