‘Twas just a slight flirtation, <br /> And where’s the harm, I pray, <br />In that amusing pastime <br /> So much in vogue to-day? <br /> <br />Her hand was plighted elsewhere <br /> To one she held most dear, <br />But why should she sit lonely <br /> When other men are near? <br /> <br />They walked to church together, <br /> They sat upon the shore. <br />She found him entertaining, <br /> He found her something more. <br /> <br />They rambled in the moonlight; <br /> It made her look so fair, <br />She let him praise her beauty, <br /> And kiss her flowing hair. <br /> <br />‘Twas just a nice flirtation. <br /> So sad the fellow died. <br />Was drowned one day while boating, <br /> The week she was a bride.’ <br /> <br />A life went out in darkness, <br /> A mother’s fond heart broke, <br />A maiden pined in secret – <br /> With grief she never spoke. <br /> <br />While robed in bridal whiteness, <br /> Queen of a festal throng, <br />She moved, whose slight flirtation <br /> Had wrought this triple wrong.<br /><br />Ella Wheeler Wilcox<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/only-a-slight-flirtation/
