Will’s at the dance in the Club-room below,

   Where the tall liquor-cups foam;

I on the pavement up here by the Bow,

   Wait, wait, to steady him home.

Will and his partner are treading a tune,

   Loving companions they be;

Willy, before we were married in June,

   Said he loved no one but me;

Said he would let his old pleasures all go

   Ever to live with his Dear.

Will’s at the dance in the Club-room below,

   Shivering I wait for him here.

Note.—“The Bow” (line 3).  The old name for the curved corner by the cross-streets in the middle of Casterbridge.