Partingtonian patchwork Blifkins the martyr : the domestic trials of a model husband. The modern syntax : Dr. Spooner's experiences in search of the delectable. Partington papers : strippings of the warm milk of human kindness. New and old dips from an unambitious inkstand. Humorous, eccentric, rhythmical |
 |
|
 |
|
|
THE OLD RED EAR. |
 | Partingtonian patchwork |  |
260
THE OLD RED EAR.
Thou 'mind'st me of the festal night
When, though the stars were shut from sight,
The fleet hours winged with footsteps light,
To pleasure's note,
And mirth and song put care to flight
To realms remote.
When, though the stars were shut from sight,
The fleet hours winged with footsteps light,
To pleasure's note,
And mirth and song put care to flight
To realms remote.
Ah, sweet the picture thou dost bring!
Reseated in that magic ring,
We round the circle deftly swing,
As then we swung;
While every way the husks we fling
The crowd among.
Reseated in that magic ring,
We round the circle deftly swing,
As then we swung;
While every way the husks we fling
The crowd among.
And merry joke and repartee
Dart to and fro with noisy glee,
And speech unloosed finds accent free
From mirthful lips,
As sweet as roses that the bee
Delighted sips.
Dart to and fro with noisy glee,
And speech unloosed finds accent free
From mirthful lips,
As sweet as roses that the bee
Delighted sips.
Dim is the lantern's dusky glow
Upon the cereal heaps below,
But bright the wit in ceaseless flow,
And bright the gleam
Of eyes, above the gloom that throw
A brighter beam.
Upon the cereal heaps below,
But bright the wit in ceaseless flow,
And bright the gleam
Of eyes, above the gloom that throw
A brighter beam.
261
The old grow young again to mark
The sounds that shatter in the dark,
Where boys and girls in playful lark
Their bent attain,
And fun, like an electric spark,
Smacks out amain.
The sounds that shatter in the dark,
Where boys and girls in playful lark
Their bent attain,
And fun, like an electric spark,
Smacks out amain.
Ah, crimson ear! thou ledd'st me through
A scene I'd fain again renew,
That e'en to ponder in review,
By memory's beam,
Enchants me till I sadden to
Dispel the dream.
A scene I'd fain again renew,
That e'en to ponder in review,
By memory's beam,
Enchants me till I sadden to
Dispel the dream.
What precious rights didst thou impart!
How soon I learned them all by heart!
How did my pulse in tumult start,
As thou, revealed,
Didst prove a key, whose dexterous art
Rare sweets unsealed!
How soon I learned them all by heart!
How did my pulse in tumult start,
As thou, revealed,
Didst prove a key, whose dexterous art
Rare sweets unsealed!
Ah, every kernel is a tongue
That speaks me back those scenes among;
Through Time's back door, wide open swung,
A sight I see,
Of flowers of joy, at random flung,
No more for me.
That speaks me back those scenes among;
Through Time's back door, wide open swung,
A sight I see,
Of flowers of joy, at random flung,
No more for me.
But such is doom, and such is best;
And older hearts should seek for rest,
Nor in such fancy stocks invest
As husking bouts;
They are for youth, 'tis manifest—
The elders “outs.”
And older hearts should seek for rest,
Nor in such fancy stocks invest
As husking bouts;
They are for youth, 'tis manifest—
The elders “outs.”
| Partingtonian patchwork | |