Page:The poems of Edmund Clarence Stedman, 1908.djvu/159

COUSIN LUCRECE Every Thanksgiving,

Up to the great

House of her kinsman, was

Driven in state.

Oh, what a sight to see,

Rigged in her best!

Wearing the famous gown

Drawn from her chest,—

Worn, ere King George's reign

Here chanced to cease,

Once by a forbear

Of Cousin Lucrece.

Damask brocaded,

Cut very low;

Short sleeves and finger-mitts

Fit for a show;

Palsied neck shaking her

Rust-yellow curls,

Rattling its roundabout

String of mock pearls;

Over her noddle,

Draggled and stark,

Two ostrich feathers—

Brought from the ark.

Shoes of frayed satin,

All heel and toe,

On her poor crippled feet

Hobbled below.

My! how the Justice's

Sons and their wives

Laughed; while the little folk

Ran for their lives, 129