Poem by Frederick Locker-Lampson

My Mistress's Boots

THEY nearly strike me dumb,
And I tremble when they come
    Pit-a-pat: 
This palpitation means
That these Boots are Geraldine's --
    Think of that!

Oh where did hunter win
So delectable a skin
    For her feet? 
You lucky little kid,
You perish'd, so you did,
    For my sweet!

The faery stitching gleams
On the sides, and in the seams,
    And it shows 
That the Pixies were the wags
Who tipt these funny tags,
    And these toes.

The simpletons who squeeze
Their extremities to please
    Mandarins, 
Would positively flinch
From venturing to pinch
    Geraldine's.

What soles to charm an elf!
Had Crusoe, sick of self,
    Chanced to view 
One printed near the tide,
Oh how hard he would have tried
    For the two!

For Gerry's debonair,
And innocent and fair
    As a rose: 
She's an angel in a frock,
With a fascinating cock
    To her nose.

Cinderella's lefts and rights
To Geraldine's were frights;
    And, I trow, 
The damsel, deftly shod,
Has dutifully trod
    Until now.

Come, Gerry, since it suits
Such a pretty Puss (in Boots)
    These to don, 
Set this dainty hand awhile
On my shoulder, dear, and I'll
    Put them on. 

1. A Word That Makes Us Linger
2. The Old Clerk
3. My Life Is A—
4. The Cradle
5. The Russet Pitcher

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