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BLUE-STOCKING REVELS; OR,
Unto whom thou didst make happy milliner-loves
With bijou for the sweetmeats, and dishes of gloves,
And sent'st home the darlings in flutters of fan
At the wit of the thought of the exquisite man!
O facile princeps of "wit about town,"
What a bay clips thee now! What a crown above crown!
Homer's self had but men for his copiers; but thee
Homer's very god copies, thou great bel esprit!
With bijou for the sweetmeats, and dishes of gloves,
And sent'st home the darlings in flutters of fan
At the wit of the thought of the exquisite man!
O facile princeps of "wit about town,"
What a bay clips thee now! What a crown above crown!
Homer's self had but men for his copiers; but thee
Homer's very god copies, thou great bel esprit!
The genius that stood behind each lady's chair,
From her dish took the cover; when forth, in glad air,
Leap'd a couple of small merry Loves, who display'd
What d'ye think?—a new girdle? a busk? a new braid?
No;—the sweetest blue stockings that ever were made.
The blue was a violet fresh as first love;
And the garters were blush-colour, mingled with dove.
From her dish took the cover; when forth, in glad air,
Leap'd a couple of small merry Loves, who display'd
What d'ye think?—a new girdle? a busk? a new braid?
No;—the sweetest blue stockings that ever were made.
The blue was a violet fresh as first love;
And the garters were blush-colour, mingled with dove.
To describe the "sensation" produced by this sight,
The dismays, pretty doubtings, the laughs, the delight,
Were a task I should never have done, if I told ye,
And haste does not let me; for lo and behold ye!
As doves round a house-top, in summer-time blue,
Take a sudden stoop earthwards, and sweep from the view,
So the Loves, one and all, rising first with a clapping
Of pinions, pass'd by us, tempestuously flapping;
Then stoop'd, quick as lightning, and gliding right under
The table, all vanish'd!—A shriek of sweet wonder
Rose sudden and brief, as of fear come and gone;
And 'twas felt thro' the room, that the stockings were on!
The dismays, pretty doubtings, the laughs, the delight,
Were a task I should never have done, if I told ye,
And haste does not let me; for lo and behold ye!
As doves round a house-top, in summer-time blue,
Take a sudden stoop earthwards, and sweep from the view,
So the Loves, one and all, rising first with a clapping
Of pinions, pass'd by us, tempestuously flapping;
Then stoop'd, quick as lightning, and gliding right under
The table, all vanish'd!—A shriek of sweet wonder
Rose sudden and brief, as of fear come and gone;
And 'twas felt thro' the room, that the stockings were on!
Mute, curious, respectful (for all were inspir'd
With the feelings so nice an occasion requir'd)
With the feelings so nice an occasion requir'd)
