The Titulyárnyi Sovétnik14
He——was a Ninth-class Councillor,
And she——a General’s daughter.
He timidly declared his love;
She spurned him when he sought her.
Then went that Ninth-class Councillor,
And drowned his grief in drinking;
And through the vinous fumes all night
That General’s girl came blinking—blinking.
Footnotes
14 Titular councillor = Ninth-class (civil rank) in the Russian Table of Precedence, corresponding to rank of Captain in the Army or Lieutenant in the Navy.