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BLUE-STOCKING REVELS; OR,
(So seek and so smiling she came, people stared,
To think such fair clay should so darkly have dared;
But Apollo the very name lov'd so, he turn'd
To a glory all round her, which shook as it burn'd,
And a whirlwind of music came sweet from the spheres):—
Then his shape he resumed, with the bay round his ears,
And on Sheridan smil'd, name with wit ever found,
And on Somerville, head most surprisingly crown'd;
For instead of the little Loves, laughing at colleges,
Round it, in doctors' caps, flew little Knowledge!
Then came young Twalmley, nice sensitive thing,
Whose pen and whose pencil give promise like spring;
Then Whitfield,—then Wortley,—and acridly bright
In her eyes, but sweet-lipp'd, the slaves' friend, Fanny Wright.
To think such fair clay should so darkly have dared;
But Apollo the very name lov'd so, he turn'd
To a glory all round her, which shook as it burn'd,
And a whirlwind of music came sweet from the spheres):—
Then his shape he resumed, with the bay round his ears,
And on Sheridan smil'd, name with wit ever found,
And on Somerville, head most surprisingly crown'd;
For instead of the little Loves, laughing at colleges,
Round it, in doctors' caps, flew little Knowledge!
Then came young Twalmley, nice sensitive thing,
Whose pen and whose pencil give promise like spring;
Then Whitfield,—then Wortley,—and acridly bright
In her eyes, but sweet-lipp'd, the slaves' friend, Fanny Wright.
And now came the dance; for, lo! catching up two,
Since the guests had all come, Phœbus made, as he flew,
A grace and a beauty of waiving decorum
(For wit and warm heart carry all things before 'em)
And leading the way, swept them off to the ball,
Into which he plung'd instantly, music and all;
For the band felt his coming, and gave such a rare
Storm of welcome, as seem'd to blow back his bright hair;
And so he came whirling it, gods! how divinely!
The hearts of the whole room, I warrant, beat finely:
In fact, hadn't he himself kept their wits sound,
The room, the whole evening, had seem'd going round:
But, what was amazing, he so danc'd with all,
He suffic'd for the total male part of the ball!
Since the guests had all come, Phœbus made, as he flew,
A grace and a beauty of waiving decorum
(For wit and warm heart carry all things before 'em)
And leading the way, swept them off to the ball,
Into which he plung'd instantly, music and all;
For the band felt his coming, and gave such a rare
Storm of welcome, as seem'd to blow back his bright hair;
And so he came whirling it, gods! how divinely!
The hearts of the whole room, I warrant, beat finely:
In fact, hadn't he himself kept their wits sound,
The room, the whole evening, had seem'd going round:
But, what was amazing, he so danc'd with all,
He suffic'd for the total male part of the ball!
