Page:Carroll - Rhyme and Reason.djvu/220

And here one offered to a thirsty fair
(His words half-drowned amid those thunders tuneful)
Some frozen viand (there were many there),
A tooth-ache in each spoonful.


There comes a happy pause, for human strength
Will not endure to dance without cessation;
And every one must reach the point at length
Of absolute prostration.


At such a moment ladies learn to give,
To partners who would urge them over-much,
A flat and yet decided negative–
Photographers love such.


There comes a welcome summons–hope revives,
And fading eyes grow bright, and pulses quicken:
Incessant pop the corks, and busy knives
Dispense the tongue and chicken.


Flushed with new life, the crowd flows back again:
And all is tangled talk and mazy motion–
Much like a waving field of golden grain,
Or a tempestuous ocean.