"Come, come," said Tom's father, "at your time of life,
There's no longer excuse for thus playing the rake--
It is time you should think, boy, of taking a wife"--
"Why, so it is, father--whose wife shall I take?"
-- "A Joke Versified"
-- from "Miscellaneous Poems" by Thomas Moore (1779-1852)
Related:
I hold your hand in mine, dear, I press it to my lip
I take a healthy bite from your dainty fingertips,
My joy would be complete, dear, if you were only here,
But still I keep your hand as a precious souvenir....