The Minuet
by Mary Mapes Dodge (1831-1905)

Grandma told me all about it,
Told me so I couldn’t doubt it,
How she danced, my Grandma danced; Long ago—
How she held her pretty head,
How her dainty skirt she spread,
How she slowly leaned and rose—long ago.

Grandma’s hair was bright and sunny,
Dimpled cheeks, too, ah, how funny!
Really quite a pretty girl—l ng ago.
Bless her! why, she wears a cap,
Grandma does, and takes a nap
Every single day; and yet
Grandma danced the minuet—long ago.

“Modern ways are quite alarming,”
Grandma says, “but boys were charming”
(Girls and boys, she means, of course) “long ago.”
Brave but modest, grandly shy,
She would like to have us try
Just to feel like those who met
In the graceful minuet—long ago.

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