Page:The works of Anna Laetitia Barbauld volume 1.djvu/288

204 And Guatimozin smiled on burning coals; But never yet did housewife notable Greet with a smile a rainy washing-day. —But grant the welkin fair, require not thou Who call'st thyself perchance the master there, Or study swept, or nicely dusted coat, Or usual 'tendance ; ask not, indiscreet, Thy stockings mended, though the yawning rents Gape wide as Erebus ; nor hope to find Some snug recess impervious: shouldst thou try The 'customed garden walks, thine eye shall rue The budding fragrance of thy tender shrubs, Myrtle or rose, all crushed beneath the weight Of coarse checked apron,—with impatient hand Twitched off when showers impend : or crossing lines Shall mar thy musings, as the wet cold sheet Flaps in thy face abrupt. Woe to the friend Whose evil stars have urged him forth to claim On such a day the hospitable rites! Looks, blank at best, and stinted courtesy,