Page:Poems of Anne Countess of Winchilsea 1903.djvu/349

 COUNTESS OF WINCHILSEA 211 �Into the strong Profundity he throws �The floating Healths of Females, blith and young, �Who there had rendezvouz'd in past Delight, �And to stol'n Plenty added clamorous Mirth, �With Song and Dance, and every jovial Prank �Befitting buxom Crew, untied by Forms: �Whilst kind Budgeta nam'd such sturdy Youths, �As next into her tender Thoughts revolv'd, 30 �And now were straggling East, and West, and South, �Hoof -beating, and at large, as Chance directs, �Still shifting Paths, lest Men (tho' stil'd of Peace) �Should urge their calmer Thoughts to Iron War, �Or force them to promote coercive Laws, �Beating that Hemp which oft entraps their Lives; �Or into Cordage pleated, and amass' d, �Deprives unruly Flesh of tempting Skin. �Thus kind Remembrance brought the Absent near �And hasten' d the Return of either' s Pledge: 40 �Brown were the Toasts, but not unsav'ry found �To Fancies clear' d by Exercise and Air, �Which the spirituous Nectar still improves, �And gliding now thro' every cherish 'd Vein, �New Warmth diffused, new Cogitations bred, �With Self-conceit of Person, and of Parts. �When Strolepedon (late distorted Wight, �Limb-wanting to the View, and all mis-shap'd) �Permits a pinion'd Arm to fill the sleeve, �Erst pendant, void, and waving with the Wind, 50 �The Timber-Leg obsequiously withdraws, �And gives to that of Bone Precedence due. �Thus undisguis'd that Form again he wears, �Which Damsel fond had drawn from houshold Toils, �And strict Behests of Parents, old and scorn'd; �Whilst farther yet his Intellects confess ��� �