<h2>THE COQUETTE</h2>
<h3><i>A Portrait</i></h3>
<h3>BY JOHN G. SAXE</h3>
<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"You're clever at drawing, I own,"<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Said my beautiful cousin Lisette,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">As we sat by the window alone,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">"But say, can you paint a Coquette?"<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"She's painted already," quoth I;<br/></span>
<span class="i2">"Nay, nay!" said the laughing Lisette,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">"Now none of your joking,—but try<br/></span>
<span class="i2">And paint me a thorough Coquette."<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"Well, cousin," at once I began<br/></span>
<span class="i2">In the ear of the eager Lisette,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">"I'll paint you as well as I can<br/></span>
<span class="i2">That wonderful thing, a Coquette.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"She wears a most beautiful face,"<br/></span>
<span class="i2">("Of course!" said the pretty Lisette),<br/></span>
<span class="i0">"And isn't deficient in grace,<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Or else she were not a Coquette.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"And then she is daintily made"<br/></span>
<span class="i2">(A smile from the dainty Lisette),<br/></span>
<span class="i0">"By people expert in the trade<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Of forming a proper Coquette.</span><span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_1128" id="Page_1128"></SPAN></span><br/></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"She's the winningest ways with the beaux,"<br/></span>
<span class="i2">("Go on!"—said the winning Lisette),<br/></span>
<span class="i0">"But there isn't a man of them knows<br/></span>
<span class="i2">The mind of the fickle Coquette!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"She knows how to weep and to sigh,"<br/></span>
<span class="i2">(A sigh from the tender Lisette),<br/></span>
<span class="i0">"But her weeping is all in my eye,—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Not that of the cunning Coquette!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"In short, she's a creature of art,"<br/></span>
<span class="i2">("Oh hush!" said the frowning Lisette),<br/></span>
<span class="i0">"With merely the ghost of a heart,—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">Enough for a thorough Coquette.<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"And yet I could easily prove"<br/></span>
<span class="i2">("Now don't!" said the angry Lisette),<br/></span>
<span class="i0">"The lady is always in love,—<br/></span>
<span class="i2">In love with herself,—the Coquette!<br/></span></div>
<div class="stanza">
<span class="i0">"There,—do not be angry!—you know,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">My dear little cousin Lisette,<br/></span>
<span class="i0">You told me a moment ago<br/></span>
<span class="i0">To paint <i>you</i>—a thorough Coquette!"<br/></span>
<span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_1129" id="Page_1129"></SPAN></span></div>
</div>
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