Young ladies don't be in a hurry
To step into wedlock, I pray
Or set all your friends in a flurry
To fix for the wedding so gay.
But then, as I know you're determined
A husband to get if you can
Just take the advice I now offer
And wait for a Temperance man.

Girls, wait for a Temperance man.
A teetotaler if you can.
For your life will be bright
And your purse never light
If you wait for a Temperance man.

Young men who are given to bitters
Or treating their friends on the sly
Though kneeling quite low in your presence
Will oftentimes get very high.
They feel quite at home on the corners.
They vote the Excise law a bore
And they've plenty of cloves in their pockets
When they visit the girl they adore.

Girls, wait for a Temperance man.
A teetotaler if you can.
For your life will be bright
And your purse never light
If you wait for a Temperance man.

If your lover should venture to kiss you
You'll very soon find out, I think
If you make use of one of your senses
Whether he is addicted to drink
And through that square hole in the shutter
If one might but venture to peep
They might there spy out their adorer
When all honest folks were asleep.

Girls, wait for a Temperance man.
A teetotaler if you can.
For your life will be bright
And your purse never light
If you wait for a Temperance man.

Now girls, if you marry a drunkard
A man who walks this way and that,
He scarcely will spare you a dollar
To buy a new dress or a hat
But then, as I know you're determined
A husband to get if you can
Just take the advice I now offer
And wait for a Temperance man.

Girls, wait for a Temperance man.
A teetotaler if you can.
For your life will be bright
And your purse never light
If you wait for a Temperance man.