Here's to the Maiden of Bashful Fifteen
Here's to the Maiden of Bashful Fifteen
Original Text
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal (1780); facs. edn. (Menston: Scolar, 1969), Act III, scene iii. PR 3682 S3 1780a Robarts Library
1Here's to the maiden of bashful fifteen;
2 Here's to the widow of fifty;
3Here's to the flaunting extravagant quean,
4 And here's to the housewife that's thrifty.
Let the toast pass,--
Drink to the lass,
I'll warrant she'll prove an excuse for the glass.
5Here's to the charmer whose dimples we prize;
6 Now to the maid who has none, sir:
7Here's to the girl with a pair of blue eyes,
8 And here's to the nymph with but one, sir.
Let the toast pass,--
Drink to the lass,
I'll warrant she'll prove an excuse for the glass.
9Here's to the maid with a bosom of snow;
10 Now to her that's as brown as a berry:
11Here's to the wife with her face full of woe,
12 And now to the damsel that's merry.
Let the toast pass,--
Drink to the lass,
I'll warrant she'll prove an excuse for the glass.
13For let 'em be clumsy, or let 'em be slim,
14 Young or ancient, I care not a feather;
15So fill a pint bumper quite up to the brim,
16 And let us e'en toast them together.
Let the toast pass,--
Drink to the lass,
I'll warrant she'll prove an excuse for the glass.
Publication Start Year
1777
RPO poem Editors
N. J. Endicott
RPO Edition
2RP.1.778; RPO 1996-2000.
Rhyme