THE FEAST OF THE VIOLETS.
131
Seize the golden occasion then.—You, who already
Are gentle,[1] remain so; and you, who would steady
Your natures, and mend them, and make out your call
To be men's best companions, be such, once for all.
And remember, that nobody, woman or man,
Ever charm'd the next ages, since writing began,
Who thought by shrewd dealing sound fame to arrive at,
Had one face in print, and another in private.
Are gentle,[1] remain so; and you, who would steady
Your natures, and mend them, and make out your call
To be men's best companions, be such, once for all.
And remember, that nobody, woman or man,
Ever charm'd the next ages, since writing began,
Who thought by shrewd dealing sound fame to arrive at,
Had one face in print, and another in private.
"Unaffectedness, Gentleness, Lovingness.—This
Be your motto. And now give your teacher a kiss."
Be your motto. And now give your teacher a kiss."
He said: and the whole house appearing to rise,
Rooms and all, in a rapture of love, tow'rds the skies,
He did really, by some divine privilege of his,
Give and take of the dames an ubiquitous kiss;
Which exalted us all so, and rapt us so far,
We undoubtedly touch'd at some exquisite star;
Very likely the morning-star, Venus's own,
For the odour proclaim'd it some violet zone:
And to prove 'twas no dream, any more than the bedding
Which Prince Camaralzaman had, or Bedreddin,
I woke, just as they did, at home, about seven,
The moment Miss Landon was saying, "Good Heaven!"
Rooms and all, in a rapture of love, tow'rds the skies,
He did really, by some divine privilege of his,
Give and take of the dames an ubiquitous kiss;
Which exalted us all so, and rapt us so far,
We undoubtedly touch'd at some exquisite star;
Very likely the morning-star, Venus's own,
For the odour proclaim'd it some violet zone:
And to prove 'twas no dream, any more than the bedding
Which Prince Camaralzaman had, or Bedreddin,
I woke, just as they did, at home, about seven,
The moment Miss Landon was saying, "Good Heaven!"
- ↑ The word "gentle" is here to be understood in its fine old sense as implying, in the inner nature, all which gentle manners ought to imply, and which, when really gentle, they do. Such is the meaning of the word in Chaucer, Spenser and Shakspeare; in Mr. Wordsworth's
and in the "cor gentile" and "Donna gentil" of the Italians.
