Page:The Hasty-Pudding.djvu/18

Night’s pleasing shades his various tasks prolong,
And yield new subjects to my various song.
For now, the corn-house fill’d, the harvest home,
Th’ invited neighbors to the Husking come;
A frolic scene, where work, and mirth, and play,
Unite their charms, to chase the hours away.

Where the huge heap lies centr’d in the hall,
The lamp suspended from the cheerful wall,
Brown corn-fed nymphs, and strong hard-handed beaux
Alternate rang’d, extend in circling rows,
Assume their seats, the solid mass attack;
The dry husks rustle, and the corn-cobs crack;
The song, the laugh, alternate notes resound,
And the sweet cider trips in silence round.

The laws of husking ev’ry wight can tell;
And sure no laws he ever keeps so well;
For each red ear a gen’ral kiss he gains,
With each smut ear he smuts the luckless swains;
But when to some sweet maid a prize is cast,
Red as her lips, and taper as her waist,
She walks around, and culls one favor’d beau,
Who leaps, the luscious tribute to bestow.
Various the sport, as are the wits and brains
Of well-pleas’d lasses and contending swains;
Till the vast mound of corn is swept away,
And he that gets the last ear, wins the day.

Meanwhile the house-wife urges all her care,
The well-earned feast to hasten and prepare.
The sifted meal already waits her hand,
The milk is strain’d, the bowls in order stand,
The fire flames high; and, as a pool (that takes
The head-long stream that o’er the mill-dam breaks)
Foams, roars, and rages with incessant toils,
So the vex’d caldron rages, roars, and boils.

First, with clean salt she seasons well the food,
Then strews the flour and thickens all the flood.
Long o’er the sim’ring fire she lets it stand;
To stir it well demands a stronger hand;
The husband takes his turn; and round and round
The ladle flies; at last the toil is crown’d;
When to the board the thronging huskers pour,
And take their seats as at the corn before.