An Incident and an Epigram — 414
It chanced one evening, at one of the great hotels, that a gentleman, seeking in vain for a candle with which to light himself to his room at a late hour, passed a young lady who had two candles, of which she politely offered him one. He took it and thanked her, and the next morning acknowledged the courtesy in the following epigram. Luckily for the poet (for his epigram would otherwise have been pointless), the young lady was as handsome as she was polite:—
“You gave me a candle: I give you my thanks,
And add—as a compliment justly your due—
There isn’t a girl in these feminine ranks
Who could, if she tried, hold a candle to you!”