OH! how I should like in a Coach to ride, Like the Sheriffs I saw upon Lord Mayor's day, With a Coachman and little Postilion astride On the back of the leader, a prancing bay. And then behind it, oh! I should glory To see the tall serving-men standing upright, Like the two who attend Mr. Montefiore, (Sir Moses I should say) for now he's a Knight. And then the liveries, I know it is rude to Find fault -- but I'll hint as he can't see me blush, That I'd not have the things I can only allude to Either orange in hue or constructed of plush; But their coats and their waistcoats and hats are delightful, Their charming silk stockings -- I vow and declare Our John's ginger gaiters so wrinkled and frightful, I never again shall be able to bear. Oh! how I should like to have diamonds and rubies, And large plume of feathers and flowers in my hair. My gracious! to think how our Tom and those boobies, Jack Smith and his friend Mister Thompson, would stare. Then how I should like to drive to Guildhall, And to see the nobility flocking in shoals, With their two-guinea tickets to dance at the ball Which the Lord Mayor gives for the relief of the Poles. And to look at the gas so uncommonly pretty, And the stars and the armour all just as they were The day that the Queen came in state to the city To dine with the whole Corporation and Mayor. Oh! how I should like to see Jane and Letitia, Miss Jones and the two Misses Frump sitting still, While dear Ensign Brown, of the West Kent Militia, Solicits my hand for the 'Supper' Quadrille. With his fine white teeth and his cheek like a rose, And his black cravat and his diamond pin, And the nice little moustache under his nose, And the dear @3little@1 tuft on the tip of his chin. And how I should like some fine morning to ride In my coach, and my white satin shoes and gown, To St. James's Church, with a Beau by side, And I shouldn't much care if his name was Brown. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOMAGE TO SEXTUS PROPERTIUS: 12 by EZRA POUND EPITAPH IN BALLADE FORM by FRANCOIS VILLON FOUR THINGS [TO DO] by HENRY VAN DYKE RAILWAY DREAMINGS by ALEXANDER ANDERSON SLEEPING AND WAKING by JANE BARLOW TO CHILDREN: 6. BIRDS OF THE AIR by WILLIAM ROSE BENET |