The Ingoldsby Legends or, Mirth and Marvels. By Thomas Ingoldsby [i.e. R. H. Barham] |
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 | The Ingoldsby Legends |  |
A couple of Princes, a black and a white one,
Tried first, but they both fail'd in choosing the right one.
Another from Naples, who shoe'd his own horses;
A French Lord, whose graces might vie with Count D'Orsay's;—
A young English Baron;—a Scotch Peer his neighbour;—
A dull drunken Saxon, all moustache and sabre;
All follow'd, and all had their pains for their labour.
Bassanio came last—happy man be his dole!
Put his conjuring cap on,—considered the whole,—
The gold put aside as Mere “hard food for Midas,”
The silver bade trudge As a “pale common drudge;”
Then choosing the little lead box in the middle,
Came plump on the picture, and found out the riddle.
Tried first, but they both fail'd in choosing the right one.
Another from Naples, who shoe'd his own horses;
A French Lord, whose graces might vie with Count D'Orsay's;—
A young English Baron;—a Scotch Peer his neighbour;—
A dull drunken Saxon, all moustache and sabre;
All follow'd, and all had their pains for their labour.
Bassanio came last—happy man be his dole!
Put his conjuring cap on,—considered the whole,—
The gold put aside as Mere “hard food for Midas,”
The silver bade trudge As a “pale common drudge;”
Then choosing the little lead box in the middle,
Came plump on the picture, and found out the riddle.
| The Ingoldsby Legends | |