Ambrose Bierce

24 June 1842 - 26 December 1913 / Horse Cave Creek, Ohio

The Genesis Of Embarrassment

When Adam first saw Eve he said:
'O lovely creature, share my bed.'
Before consenting, she her gaze
Fixed on the greensward to appraise,
As well as vision could avouch,
The value of the proffered couch.
And seeing that the grass was green
And neatly clipped with a machine-
Observing that the flow'rs were rare
Varieties, and some were fair,
The posts of precious woods, besprent
With fragrant balsams, diffluent,
And all things suited to her worth,
She raised her angel eyes from earth
To his and, blushing to confess,
Murmured: 'I love you, Adam-yes.'
Since then her daughters, it is said,
Look always down when asked to wed.
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