He'd flirt and boat, but never wrote / A note to his old geezer.

a great adversary , stepping in , so violented his Majesty to a trial

Traditionally, people gave a compliment first so it would soften the blow of what was to come after. It does not soften the blow, it fully erases the fact that they ever been complimented because their mind is focused on the last thing they heard, […]

The priest took thirty minutes to deliver his harangue on timeliness, making the entire service run late.