 | Specimens of American poetry |  |
TABITHA TOWZER.
Miss Tabitha Towzer is fair,
No guinea pig ever was neater,
Like a hakmatak slender and spare,
And sweet as a mush-squash, or sweeter.
No guinea pig ever was neater,
Like a hakmatak slender and spare,
And sweet as a mush-squash, or sweeter.
Miss Tabitha Towzer is sleek,
When dress'd in her pretty new tucker,
Like an otter that paddles the creek,
In quest of a mud-pout, or sucker.
When dress'd in her pretty new tucker,
Like an otter that paddles the creek,
In quest of a mud-pout, or sucker.
Her forehead is smooth as a tray,
Ah! smoother than that, on my soul,
And turn'd, as a body may say,
Like a delicate neat wooden-bowl.
Ah! smoother than that, on my soul,
And turn'd, as a body may say,
Like a delicate neat wooden-bowl.
To what shall I liken her hair,
As straight as a carpenter's line,
For similes sure must be rare,
When we speak of a nymph so divine.
As straight as a carpenter's line,
For similes sure must be rare,
When we speak of a nymph so divine.
Not the head of a Nazarite seer,
That never was shaven or shorn.
Nought equals the locks of my dear,
But the silk of an ear of green corn.
That never was shaven or shorn.
Nought equals the locks of my dear,
But the silk of an ear of green corn.
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My dear has a beautiful nose,
With a sled-runner crook in the middle,
Which one would be led to suppose
Was meant for the head of a fiddle.
With a sled-runner crook in the middle,
Which one would be led to suppose
Was meant for the head of a fiddle.
Miss Tabby has two pretty eyes,
Glass buttons shone never so bright,
Their love-lighted lustre outvies
The lightning-bug's twinkle by night.
Glass buttons shone never so bright,
Their love-lighted lustre outvies
The lightning-bug's twinkle by night.
And oft with a magical glance,
She makes in my bosom a pother,
When leering politely askance,
She shuts one, and winks with the other.
She makes in my bosom a pother,
When leering politely askance,
She shuts one, and winks with the other.
The lips of my charmer are sweet,
As a hogshead of maple molasses,
And the ruby-red tint of her cheek,
The gill of a salmon surpasses.
As a hogshead of maple molasses,
And the ruby-red tint of her cheek,
The gill of a salmon surpasses.
No teeth like her's ever were seen,
Nor ever described in a novel,
Of a beautiful kind of pea-green,
And shaped like a wooden-shod-shovel.
Nor ever described in a novel,
Of a beautiful kind of pea-green,
And shaped like a wooden-shod-shovel.
Her fine little ears, you would judge,
Were wings of a bat in perfection;
A dollar I never should grudge
To put them in Peale's grand collection.
Were wings of a bat in perfection;
A dollar I never should grudge
To put them in Peale's grand collection.
Description must fail in her chin,
At least till our language is richer;
Much fairer than ladle of tin,
Or beautiful brown earthern pitcher.
At least till our language is richer;
Much fairer than ladle of tin,
Or beautiful brown earthern pitcher.
So pretty a neck, I'll be bound,
Never join'd head and body together,
Like nice crook'd-neck'd squash on the ground,
Long whiten'd by winter-like weather.
Never join'd head and body together,
Like nice crook'd-neck'd squash on the ground,
Long whiten'd by winter-like weather.
Should I set forth the rest of her charms,
I might by some phrase that's improper,
Give modesty's bosom alarms,
Which I would n't do for a copper.
I might by some phrase that's improper,
Give modesty's bosom alarms,
Which I would n't do for a copper.
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Should I mention her gait or her air,
You might think I intended to banter;
She moves with more grace you would swear,
Than a founder'd horse forced to a canter.
You might think I intended to banter;
She moves with more grace you would swear,
Than a founder'd horse forced to a canter.
She sang with a beautiful voice,
Which ravish'd you out of your senses;
A pig will make just such a noise
When his hind leg stuck fast in the fence is.
Which ravish'd you out of your senses;
A pig will make just such a noise
When his hind leg stuck fast in the fence is.
| Specimens of American poetry | |