OK, I think this is a definitive transcription of the original.
-Joe Offer-

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THE SHAPE OF THINGS
(Sheldon Harnick)

Completely round is the perfect pearl
The oyster manufactures.
Completely round is the steering wheel
That leads to compound fractures.
Completely round is the golden fruit
That hangs in the orange tree.
Yes, the circle shape is quite renowned,
And sad to say, it can be found
In the dirty low-down runaround
My true love gave to me,
Yes, my true love gave to me.

Completely square is the velvet box
He said my ring would be in.
Completely square is the envelope
He wrote farewell to me in.
Completely square is the handkerchief
I flourish constantly,
As it dries my eyes of the tears I've shed,
And blows my nose till it turns bright red,
For a perfect square is my true love's head
He will not marry me,
No, he will not marry me.

Rectangular is the hotel door
My true love tried to sneak through.
Rectangular is the transom
Over which I had to peek through.
Rectangular is the hotel room
I entered angrily.
Now, rectangular is the wooden box
Where lies my love 'neath the grazing flocks,
They said he died of the chicken pox,
In part I must agree;
One chick too many had he

Triangular is the piece of pie
I eat to ease my sorrow.
Triangular is the hatchet blade
I plan to hide tomorrow.
Triangular the relationship
That now has ceased to be.
And the self-same shape is a garment thin,
That fastens on with a safety pin
To a prize I had no wish to win;
It's a lasting memory
That my true love gave to me.


from The Littlest Revue, 1956

source: Their Words are Music: The Great Theatre Lyricists and Their Lyrics, edited by Lehman Engel, 1975

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