OH, Mr. Gibbon! -- I do not mean the Chronicler of Rome; @3He@1 would have told thee loftily, that no man In modern times may play the antique Roman, And tear a Sabine virgin from her home: -- But Mr. Gibbon. Thou, -- with the surreptitious rib on, What shall I say to thee, thou Jason, -- nay, What will our Wilberforce and Stephen say, Thou cruel kidnapper of young @3white@1 woman! Were there no misses -- none All on the start and ready for a run To Gretna Smithy -- even by the mail, That thou must go befooling A quiet maiden at her country schooling, And stop her lessons with an idle tale, -- Sully the happy hue Of her calm thoughts, and trouble her sky-blue -- Spoil her embroideries, and falsely wheedle Her pretty hand from the delightful needle, Merely to mar her @3piece@1, Planting those stitches in her maiden heart, That only should have made Rebecca smart, Or robed young Isaac in a silken fleece? Was there no willing Love, With roving eyes, More gay than wise, To bend with thy removal to remove? Couldst thou not calm the doubt Of Foote twice asked in vain, and ask her out? There's Madame Vestris -- but she has a mate, And Paton hath as bad -- But thou might'st add A single Cubitt to thy single state, Take such, and welcome to more wives than Buncle, Or gentle Olive, that Princess of No-Land, She owns some great expectancies in Poland, And has no follower -- I mean no uncle! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WHAT I'VE BELIEVED IN by JAMES GALVIN A CELEBRATION OF CHARIS: 1. HIS EXCUSE FOR LOVING by BEN JONSON COUNTER-ATTACK by SIEGFRIED SASSOON ODE SUNG AT THE OPENING OF THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION by ALFRED TENNYSON AN EVENING LULL by WALT WHITMAN THE STEAM-ENGINE: CANTO 4: LORD STANHOPE'S STEAMER by T. BAKER |