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THE FEAST OF VIOLETS.
111
"And how go your own winged horses?" quoth he:
Then he asked after Margaret Gillies and Mee,
Seyffarth, Carpenter, Robertson, Barrett, and Sharp,
The Corbaux, the Chalons:—in short, more than his harp
Has strings to outnumber, or haste can disclose;
And look'd at the gall'ries, and smil'd as they rose:
For they all sat together, in colours so rare
They appear'd like a garden, enchanting the air;
But what pleas'd me hugely, he call'd to my wife,
And said, "You have done Shelley's mood to the life."
Some lady musicians completed the bower,
At head of whom earnestly gaz'd Betsy Flower.
Then he asked after Margaret Gillies and Mee,
Seyffarth, Carpenter, Robertson, Barrett, and Sharp,
The Corbaux, the Chalons:—in short, more than his harp
Has strings to outnumber, or haste can disclose;
And look'd at the gall'ries, and smil'd as they rose:
For they all sat together, in colours so rare
They appear'd like a garden, enchanting the air;
But what pleas'd me hugely, he call'd to my wife,
And said, "You have done Shelley's mood to the life."
Some lady musicians completed the bower,
At head of whom earnestly gaz'd Betsy Flower.
At the sight of Miss Edgeworth, he said, "Here comes one,
As sincere and as kind as lives under the sun;
Not poetical, eh?—nor much giv'n to insist
On utilities not in utility's list
(Things, nevertheless, without which the large heart
Of my world would but play a poor husk of a part),
But most truly, within her own sphere, sympathetic,
And that's no mean help tow'rds the practic-poetic.
Then, smiling, he said a most singular thing,—
He thank'd her for making him "saving of string"!!
But for fear she should fancy he didn't approve her in
Matters more weighty, prais'd much her 'Manœuvring;'
A book, which if aught could pierce craniums so dense,
Might supply cunning folks with a little good sense.
And her Irish (he added) poor souls! so impress'd him,
He knew not if most they amus'd, or distressed him.
As sincere and as kind as lives under the sun;
Not poetical, eh?—nor much giv'n to insist
On utilities not in utility's list
(Things, nevertheless, without which the large heart
Of my world would but play a poor husk of a part),
But most truly, within her own sphere, sympathetic,
And that's no mean help tow'rds the practic-poetic.
Then, smiling, he said a most singular thing,—
He thank'd her for making him "saving of string"!!
But for fear she should fancy he didn't approve her in
Matters more weighty, prais'd much her 'Manœuvring;'
A book, which if aught could pierce craniums so dense,
Might supply cunning folks with a little good sense.
And her Irish (he added) poor souls! so impress'd him,
He knew not if most they amus'd, or distressed him.
especially in animals. A horse, after a model of hers, full of grace and fire, is well known in the plaster-cast shops. The names which follow in the text are those of reigning female artists and amateurs.
