OF TEMPER.
37
Eager she darted on the graceful toy,
And, fiercely pointing to each naked boy,
"Canst thou," she cried, in a discordant scream,
That rous'd the politician from his dream,
While with her voice the echoing chamber rings,
"[1]Say! canst thou suffer these flagitious things?
Are these devices to thy daughter brought,
That wake such gross impurity of thought?
In vain are all the prudent words I preach,
The modest maxims that I strive to teach;
By foolish fondness of your sense beguil'd,
You still indulge and spoil the flippant child;
For me, whate'er I say is deem'd absurd;
She scorns my sage advice:—but mark my word,
If to this ball you let the hoyden run,
Your power is ended, and the girl undone,"
The patriot knight, by interruption vext,
In his political pursuits perplext,
And, fiercely pointing to each naked boy,
"Canst thou," she cried, in a discordant scream,
That rous'd the politician from his dream,
While with her voice the echoing chamber rings,
"[1]Say! canst thou suffer these flagitious things?
Are these devices to thy daughter brought,
That wake such gross impurity of thought?
In vain are all the prudent words I preach,
The modest maxims that I strive to teach;
By foolish fondness of your sense beguil'd,
You still indulge and spoil the flippant child;
For me, whate'er I say is deem'd absurd;
She scorns my sage advice:—but mark my word,
If to this ball you let the hoyden run,
Your power is ended, and the girl undone,"
The patriot knight, by interruption vext,
In his political pursuits perplext,
- ↑ Ζευ ῶατερ, ου νεμεσιζη, ορῶ.ν ταδε καρτερα εργα, &c.
Iliad i. v. 872, et seq.
