And where her raven tresses used to flow, Some locks that time had left her in his rage, And some mock ringlets, made her forehead shady, A compound (like our Psalms) of tête and braidy. Then for her shape-alas! how Saturn wrecks, And bends, and corkscrews all the frame about, Doubles the hams, and crooks the straightest necks, Draws in the nape, and pushes forth the snout, Makes backs and stomachs concave or convex : Witness those pensioners called In and Out, Who, all day watching first and second rater, Quaintly unbend themselves but grow no straighter. So time with fair Bianca dealt, and made Her shape a bow, that once was like an arrow; His iron hand upon her spine he laid, And twisted all awry her "winsome marrow." In truth it was a change! - she had obeyed The holy Pope before her chest grew narrow, Her grief and gall meanwhile were quite extreme, Set in for singleness, though growing double? And here just here as she began to heed The real world, her clock chimed out its score; A clock it was of the Venetian breed, That cried the hour from one to twenty-four; The works moreover standing in some need Of workmanship, it struck some dozens more; By twenty she had quite renounced the veil; And thirty made her very sad and pale, To paint that ruin where her charms would run; And thought no higher, as the late dream crossed her, And so Bianca changed; - the next sweet even, That veiled her blushing check,- for Julio brought her -to break the ice Of course upon the water. But what a puzzle is one's serious mind To open!oysters, when the ice is thick, Are not so difficult and disinclined; And Julio felt the declaration stick However, he contrived by bits to pick Arms, shoulders, fingers, all were interceders, Nods, shrugs and bends,- Bianca could not choose But soften to his suit with more facility, He told his story with so much agility. "Be thou my park, and I will be thy dear, (So he began at last to speak or quote;) Be thou my bark, and I thy gondolier, (For passion takes this figurative note;) Be thou my light, and I thy chandelier: Be thou my dove, and I will be thy cote; He poured into her small and shell-like ear, Meanwhile her eyes glanced on the silver sphere That even now began to steal behind A dewy vapor, which was lingering near, Wherein the dull moon crept all dim and pale, Just like a virgin putting on the veil : Bidding adieu to all her sparks - the stars, That erst had wooed and worshipped in her train, Saturn and Hesperus, and gallant Mars Never to flirt with heavenly eyes again. Meanwhile, remindful of the convent bars, Bianca did not watch these signs in vain, But turned to Julio at the dark eclipse, With words, like verbal kisses, on her lips. He took the hint full speedily, and, backed By love, and night, and the occasion's meetness, Bestowed a something on her cheek that smacked (Though quite in silence) of ambrosial sweetness; That made her think all other kisses lacked Till then, but what she knew not, of completeness: Insipid things like sandwiches of veal. He took her hand, and soon she felt him wring About her waist that had been clasped by none; Since cold description would but be outrun; OVER THE WAY. "I sat over against a window where there stood a pot with very pretty flowers; and had my eyes fixed on it, when on a sudden the window opened, and a young lady appeared whose beauty struck me."-ARABIAN NIGHTS. ALAS! the flames of an unhappy lover Over the way! O! why are eyes of hazel? noses Grecian? I've gazed too often, till my heart's as lost I cannot read or write, or thoughts relax - Over the way! Even on Sunday my devotions vary, O! if my godmother were but a fairy, I envy everything that's near Miss Lindo, Blest blue-bottles! that buzz about the window Even at even, for there be no shutters, I see her reading on, from grave to gay, Emits, two stories high, a starlike ray, But how breathe unto her my deep regards, Cold as the pole she is to my adoring; Over the way! Each dirty little Savoyard that dances She looks on-Punch-or chimney-sweeps in May, Zounds! wherefore cannot I attract her glances Over the way? |