Only page of title Fairly Easy
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Grandmamma was much upset;
Long she mourned, and loud lamented,
Staid Quadrille and Minuet.
In her eyes (a bit oldfashioned)
Waltzing called for condemnation,
As a somewhat too empassioned
Form of social relaxation!
Grandma, with averted head,
Swept her daughters home to bed!
Revolutionised the dance,
Dear Mamma was heard aspersing
Fashions introduced from France.
With invectives harsh and stinging
She abused those youthful dancers
Who were over fond of 'swinging'
Partners in the Kitchen Lancers;
Ragging, as a ballroom sport,
Made Mamma get up and snort!
Elevate maternal hairs,
When our daughters act like rabbits,
And our sons behave like bears;
When the modern ballroom gang goes
Through the complicated mazes
Of those pseudo-Spanish Tangoes
(Last of corybantic crazes! ),
We can only gaze aghast,
Like our forbears in the past!
More and more inclined to romp,
Emulating am'rous negroes
In some Mississippi swamp,
Recollect, when Gossip chatters,
Though the best hotels taboo it,
'Tisn't _what_ we dance that matters,
But the way in which we do it!
Chaperones may look askance:
_Honi soit qui mal y_ -- dance!
End of title
