Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 1.djvu/527



of the many-twinkling feet! whose charms

Are now extended up from legs to arms;

Terpsichore!—too long misdeemed a maid—

Reproachful term—bestowed but to upbraid—

Henceforth in all the bronze of brightness shine,

The least a Vestal of the Virgin Nine.

Far be from thee and thine the name of Prude:

Mocked yet triumphant; sneered at, unsubdued;

Thy legs must move to conquer as they fly,

If but thy coats are reasonably high!

Thy breast—if bare enough—requires no shield;

Dance forth—sans armour thou shalt take the field

And own—impregnable to most assaults,

Thy not too lawfully begotten "Waltz."

Hail, nimble Nymph! to whom the young hussar,

The whiskered votary of Waltz and War,