The Bal’ Cafe

I met her at the Bal’ Café,

     A charming damsel she;

Her lustrous eyes

          Were a surprise,

     Aglow with witchery.

Her step was quick and full of grace,

     Her manner wise and shy;

The Bal’ Café

          Was bright and gay

     Beneath her bright blue eyes.

I found her at the Bal’ Café,

     O, happy, cruel fate!

And then I fell

          Beneath the spell

     She wove about my plate.

I waited at the Bal’ Café

     Till she was through each night,

And then we’d go, –

          O, well you know

The ways of love’s delight.

I left her at the Bal’ Café,

     What need to tell you why?

She’s laying plates

          And making dates

     As in the days gone by.

No more I seek the Bal’ Café,

     No more I seek Nannette;

Our love was brief,

          I came to grief –

     And yet, and yet, and yet!!

Aug. 16, 1901