XXIII. An honest gentleman at his return May not have the good fortune of Ulysses; Not all lone matrons for their husbands mourn, Or show the same dislike to suitors' kisses; The odds are that he finds a handsome urn To his memory. -and two or three young misses Born to some friend, who holds his wife and riches,And that his Argus (1) bites him by-the breeches. (1) ["Thus near the gates, conferring as they drew, He, not unconscious of the voice and tread, 'What noble beast in this abandon'd state Some care his age deserves: Or was he prized 'Not Argus so, (Eumæus thus rejoin'd,) This said, the honest herdsman strode before: POPE, Odyssey, b. xvii.] - XXIV. If single, probably his plighted fair Has in his absence wedded some rich miser; But all the better, for the happy pair May quarrel, and the lady growing wiser, As cavalier servente, or despise her; XXV. And oh ye gentlemen who have already And the true Hymen, (the first's but a screen)— Yet for all that keep not too long away, I've known the absent wrong'd four times a day.(') XXVI. Lambro, our sea-solicitor, who had Much less experience of dry land than ocean, On seeing his own chimney-smoke, felt glad; But not knowing metaphysics, had no notion Of the true reason of his not being sad, Or that of any other strong emotion; He loved his child, and would have wept the loss of her, But knew the cause no more than a philosopher. (1) [MS." Yet for all that don't stay away too long, XXVII. He saw his white walls shining in the sun, The distant dog-bark; and perceived between The moving figures, and the sparkling sheen Of arms (in the East all arm)—and various dyes Of colour'd garbs, as bright as butterflies. XXVIII. And as the spot where they appear he nears, But an unhallow'd, earthly sound of fiddling! A pipe, too, and a drum, and shortly after, A most unoriental roar of laughter. XXIX. And still more nearly to the place advancing, Through the waved branches, o'er the greensward 'Midst other indications of festivity, Seeing a troop of his domestics dancing [glancing, Like dervises, who turn as on a pivot, he Perceived it was the Pyrrhic dance (1) so martial, To which the Levantines are very partial. (1) [This dance is still performed by young men armed cap-à-pie, who execute, to the sound of instruments, all the proper movements of attack and defence. - CLARKE.] XXX. And further on a group of Grecian girls, (1) Link'd hand in hand, and dancing; each too having Down her white neck long floating auburn curls— (The least of which would set ten poets raving); (2) Their leader —and bounded to her song, sang With choral step and voice, the virgin throng. XXXI. And here, assembled cross-legg'd round their trays, Pilaus and meats of all sorts met the gaze, Above them their dessert grew on its vine, XXXII. A band of children, round a snow-white ram, (1) [" Their manner of dancing is certainly the same that Diana is sung to have danced on the banks of Eurotas. The great lady still leads the dance, and is followed by a troop of young girls, who imitate her steps, and if she sings, make up the chorus. The tunes are extremely gay and lively, yet with something in them wonderfully soft. The steps are varied according to the pleasure of her that leads the dance, but always in exact time, and infinitely more agreeable than any of our dances."-LADY M. W. MONTAGU.] (2) [MS."That would have set Tom Moore, though married, raving."] His sober head, majestically tame, Or eats from out the palm, or playful lowers His brow, as if in act to butt, and then Yielding to their small hands, draws back again. (1) XXXIII. Their classical profiles, and glittering dresses, Sigh'd, for their sakes- -that they should e'er grow older. XXXIV. Afar, a dwarf buffoon stood telling tales Transform'd their lords to beasts (but that's a fact). XXXV. Here was no lack of innocent diversion For the imagination or the senses, Song, dance, wine, music, stories from the Persian, All pretty pastimes in which no offence is; (1) [This verse reads like the description of some antique basso-relievo. -HILL.] |