Page:Dante and His Circle, with the Italian Poets Preceding Him.djvu/140

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, this my little maid

Is come to spend her Easter-tide with you;

Not that she reckons feasting as her due,—

Whose need is hardly to be fed, but read.

Not in a hurry can her sense be weigh'd,

Nor mid the jests of any noisy crew:

Ah! and she wants a little coaxing too

Before she'll get into another's head.

But if you do not find her meaning clear,

You've many Brother Alberts hard at hand,

Whose wisdom will respond to any call.

Consult with them and do not laugh at her;

And if she still is hard to understand,

Apply to Master Janus last of all.