A (former) Lover’s Plea

From the Rock Island Argus, March 28, 1914. By Henry Howland.

Kindly send my letters back,
    Sweet Marie;
You possess a lofty stack
    Penned by me;
Since our dream of love is o’er
You’ll not need them any more—
Send them quickly, I implore,
    Sweet Marie.

You have filled me with dismay,
    Sweet Marie;
There are other fish, you say,
    In the sea;
You have made my future black;
All my hopes are dead, alack!
But please send my letters back,
    Sweet Marie.

All my days I’ll mourn for you,
    Sweet Marie;
Ever fond and ever true
    I shall be;
When my passion was intense
I wrote letters lacking sense—
Send them back at my expense,
    Sweet Marie.

Do not tell me they are burned,
    Sweet Marie;
Let them safely be returned
    Speedily;
Send this with them, please my dear;
On the day that they appear
I will do the burning here,
    Sweet Marie.

Listen to my plaintive wail,
    Sweet Marie;
Send them by the fastest mail
    Back to me;
Let my plea be not in vain;
Place them in my hands again,
And to me you shall remain
    Sweet Marie.