 | The Baroness of New York |  |
X.
The Baroness, with heedless air,
Passed on, came back, passed anywhere.
She was as one who moved or stood
At morn in twilight widowhood.
With South-land love in her great eyes,
With beauty that the gods adore,
With wealth that made a vulgar prize,
What wonder that she stood before
The world more fair than all things there?
That crowd! It was a stormy crowd!
They elbowed sharp, they shouted loud,
They shamed the loudest auction sale.
The men talked “pay” and “stocks,” and in
The fierce and universal din,
The women rattled spoons and forks,
And reached their necks like lonesome storks,
And tiptoed high as if to hail
In hard distress, some distant sail.
Passed on, came back, passed anywhere.
She was as one who moved or stood
At morn in twilight widowhood.
With South-land love in her great eyes,
With beauty that the gods adore,
With wealth that made a vulgar prize,
What wonder that she stood before
The world more fair than all things there?
143
They elbowed sharp, they shouted loud,
They shamed the loudest auction sale.
The men talked “pay” and “stocks,” and in
The fierce and universal din,
The women rattled spoons and forks,
And reached their necks like lonesome storks,
And tiptoed high as if to hail
In hard distress, some distant sail.
Six horrid fiddlers piped and scraped;
Short, stuffy pipers, puffed and red,
With half the hair blown off the head,
So shiny, white and turnip-shaped—
They puffed their cheeks, they swelled and blew
The louder, as the louder crew
Displayed their rival brass and cheek.
Beware! Beware, when Greek meets Greek.
But O, take care when ass meets ass
In braying rivalry of brass.
Short, stuffy pipers, puffed and red,
With half the hair blown off the head,
So shiny, white and turnip-shaped—
They puffed their cheeks, they swelled and blew
The louder, as the louder crew
Displayed their rival brass and cheek.
Beware! Beware, when Greek meets Greek.
But O, take care when ass meets ass
In braying rivalry of brass.
They blew as if for life or death,
And when they stopped to catch their breath,
An artificial singing-bird,
Just such as are forever heard
Along the upper, German Rhine,
In third-class drinking-sheds of wine,
Sprang up from artificial vine,
And trilled so shrill, so sharp, that you
Had thought your poor head split in two.
And when they stopped to catch their breath,
An artificial singing-bird,
Just such as are forever heard
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In third-class drinking-sheds of wine,
Sprang up from artificial vine,
And trilled so shrill, so sharp, that you
Had thought your poor head split in two.
Sir Francis, with distempered air,
And something touching on despair,
Shook off the bore and elbowed through,
And sought dame P. to say adieu.
The man was at his side again—
“I pray your pardon, Sir Francis Jain,
But see those dozens of young men there?
These gay young bloods, who live to chew,
And squirt ambier on the Avenue,
And strut striped clothes like convicts through
The walks of the city? Well, every one
Is somebody's son, sir, somebody's son.
When that is said, all's said and done;
Each one is known as somebody's son.”
And something touching on despair,
Shook off the bore and elbowed through,
And sought dame P. to say adieu.
The man was at his side again—
“I pray your pardon, Sir Francis Jain,
But see those dozens of young men there?
These gay young bloods, who live to chew,
And squirt ambier on the Avenue,
And strut striped clothes like convicts through
The walks of the city? Well, every one
Is somebody's son, sir, somebody's son.
When that is said, all's said and done;
Each one is known as somebody's son.”
“The daughters are splendid, fair, honest, and true,”
Yet as full of old Nick, I promise you,
In an innocent way, as you can think.
You see you blonde, in a group of men?
She is pure as jolly; and just as bright!
Well, she has confessed that many a night
She scarce has been able to sleep a wink,
But nearly all night has laid awake
Regretting that there were only ten
Of the holy commandments for men to break.”
Yet as full of old Nick, I promise you,
In an innocent way, as you can think.
You see you blonde, in a group of men?
145
Well, she has confessed that many a night
She scarce has been able to sleep a wink,
But nearly all night has laid awake
Regretting that there were only ten
Of the holy commandments for men to break.”
Sir Francis, disgusted and firmer now,
Pushed him aside, with gathered brow,
And down the hall sought hat and cane.
There was to him a sense of shame
In mixing in this bedlam.
Vain
He tried to escape the man who came
Still at his elbow, with that same
Infernal smile.
“I say, you can
Do worse than wed that tall brunette
I saw you ogle. Eh! Sir Jain?
To wed that lady, sir, would pay
As well, or better, than finding the man
For the Irish estate. And then, they say,
The girl's in the market right smart. And yet
She's hardly a girl, if the gossips speak true,
And now, Sir Jain, if I speak plain,
I beg your pardon. But a girl to me
Is hardly a girl, be she never so young,
Never so gracious of air and tongue,
Who has, on the very same Avenue
Where she is residing, a husband or two.”
Pushed him aside, with gathered brow,
And down the hall sought hat and cane.
There was to him a sense of shame
In mixing in this bedlam.
Vain
He tried to escape the man who came
Still at his elbow, with that same
Infernal smile.
“I say, you can
Do worse than wed that tall brunette
I saw you ogle. Eh! Sir Jain?
To wed that lady, sir, would pay
As well, or better, than finding the man
For the Irish estate. And then, they say,
The girl's in the market right smart. And yet
She's hardly a girl, if the gossips speak true,
And now, Sir Jain, if I speak plain,
146
Is hardly a girl, be she never so young,
Never so gracious of air and tongue,
Who has, on the very same Avenue
Where she is residing, a husband or two.”
His rage was like the thunder's fall;
His glare was like a leaping fire.
Swift up the hall, swift down the hall,
Sir Francis glanced, and left and right,
And not a woman was then in sight.
With not a single word to say,
Like fair Apollo, he struck the liar,
Clutched hat and cane and strode away.
His glare was like a leaping fire.
Swift up the hall, swift down the hall,
Sir Francis glanced, and left and right,
And not a woman was then in sight.
With not a single word to say,
Like fair Apollo, he struck the liar,
Clutched hat and cane and strode away.
He reached the door, passed proudly through,
Then down the ample steps, and on
And up the teeming Avenue.
Yet ere the man was fairly gone,
He heard behind a hoarse, loud cry,
As one made wild with rage and pain,
That called out, clanged out cruelly;
“Sir Francis Jain! Sir Francis Jain!
You walk as if you dragged a chain!”
Then down the ample steps, and on
And up the teeming Avenue.
Yet ere the man was fairly gone,
He heard behind a hoarse, loud cry,
As one made wild with rage and pain,
That called out, clanged out cruelly;
“Sir Francis Jain! Sir Francis Jain!
You walk as if you dragged a chain!”
| The Baroness of New York | |