The welcome vessel reach'd the genial strand,
And round her flock'd the daughters of the land.
Not decent David, when, before the ark,
His grand pas-seul excited some remark;
Not love-lorn Quixote, when his Sancho thoug
The knight's fandango friskier than it ought;
Not soft Herodias, when with winning tread
Hler nimble feet danced off another's head;
Not Cleopatra on her galley's deck,
Display'd so much of leg, or more of neck,
Than thou, ambrozial Waltz, when first the moon
Beheld thee twirling to a Saxon tune!
To you-ye husbands of ten years! whose brows
Ache with the annual tributes of a spouse;
To you, of nine years less-who only bear
The budding sprouts of those that you
shall wear,
With added ornaments around them roll'd,
Of native brass, or law-awarded gold;
To you, ye matrons, ever on the watch
To mar a son's, or make a daughter's match;
To you, ye children of whom chance accords-
Always the ladies, and sometimes their lords;
Το you-ye single gentlemen! who seek
Torments for life, or pleasures for a week;
As Love or Hymen your endeavours guide,
To gain your own, or snatch another's bride;
To one and all the lovely stranger came,
And every
ball-room echoes with her name.
Endearing Waltz-to thy more melting tune Bow Irish jig, and ancient rigadoon;
ch reels avaunt! and country dance, forego ur future claims to each fantastic toe;
altz-Waltz-alone both legs and arms demands, beral of feet, and lavish of her hands;
puts which may freely range in public sight tre ne'er before-but-pray « put out the light.» thinks the glare of yonder chandelier
*ines much too far-or I am much too near; And true, though strange-Waltz whispers this remark, • Av slippery steps are safest in the dark!» but here the muse with due decorum halts, And lends her longest petticoat to Waltz.
Observant travellers! of every time;
Ye quartos! publish'd upon every clime;
O say, shall dull Romaika's heavy round,
Fandango's wriggle, or Bolero's bound;
Can Foypt's Almas 6-tantalizing group-
Colur bia's caperers to the warlike whoop-
Can aught from cold Kamschatka to Cape Horn
With Waltz compare, or after Waltz be borne?
Ah, no! from Morier's pages down to Galt's,
Fach tourist pens a paragraph for «Waltz.»>
Shades of those belles, whose reign began of yore,
With George the Third's-and ended long before-
hough in your daughters' daughters yet you thrive,
Burst from your lead, and be yourselves alive!
Back to the ball-room speed your spectred host;
Fool's Paradise is dull to that you lost.
No treacherous powder bids conjecture quake;
No stiff starch'd stays make meddling finger.
(Transferr'd to those ambiguous things that ape
Goats in their visage,7 women in their shape);
No damsel feints when rather closely press',
But more caressing seems when most caress'd;
Superfluous hartshorn, and reviving salts,
Both banish'd by the sovereign cordial «Waltz.>>
Seductive Waltz!-though on thy native shore
Even Werter's self proclaim'd thee half a whore
Werter-to decent vice though much inclined;
Yet warm, not wanton; dazzled, but not blind--
Though gentle Genlis, in her strife with Stael,
Would even proscribe thee from a Paris ball;
Thee fashion hails-from countesses to queens,
And maids and valets waltz behind the scenes;
Wide and more wide thy witching circle spreads,
And turns-if nothing else—at least our heads;
With thee even clumsy cits attempt to bounce,
And cockneys practise what they can't pronounc
Gods! how the glorious theme my strain exalts,
And rhyme finds partner rhyme in praise of «W > tz..>
Blest was the time Waltz chose for her début;
The court, the R--t, like herself were new;
New face for friends, for foes some new rewards,
New ornaments for black and royal guards;
New laws to hang the rogues that roar'd for bread
New coins (most new 9) to follow those that fled;
New victories-nor can we prize them less,
Though Jenky wonders at his own success;
New wars, because the old succeed so well,
That most survivors envy those who fell;
New mistresses-no-old-and yet 't is true, Though they be old, the thing is something new; *h new, quite new—( —(except some ancient tricks1o), white-sticks, gold-sticks, broom-sticks, all new sticks!
With vests or ribands-deck'd alike in hue,
opers strut, new turncoats blush in blue; sith the muse-my--11, what say you? bwas the time when Waltz might best maintain aew preferments in this novel reign;
was the time, nor ever yet was such,
re no more, and petticoats not much;
and minuets, virtue and her stays,
-tale powder-all have had their days.
I begins-the honours of the house dy done by daughter or by spouse, con potentate-or royal or serene
With A-t's gay grace, or sapient G-st-r's mien, ben orth the ready dame, whose rising flush Might nce have been mistaken for a blush.
here the garb just leaves the bosom free, ot where hearts12 were once supposed to be; he ani all the confines of the yielded waist, The strangest hand may wander undisplaced; The body's in return may grasp as much As princely paunches offer to her touch. Please i round the chalky floor how well they trip, One band reposing on the royal hip;
The other to the shoulder no less royal
Ascending with affection truly loyal;
Thus front to front the partners move or stand,
The foot may rest, but none withdraw the hand
And all in turn may follow in their rank,
The Earl of Asterisk-and Lady-Blank;
Sir-such a one-with those of fashion's host,
For whose blest surnames-vide « Morning Post
(Or if for that impartial print too late,
Search Doctors' Commons six months from my da
Thus all and each, in movement swift or slow,
The genial contact gently undergo;
Till some might marvel, with the modest Turk,
If << nothing follows all this palming work?» 13
True, honest Mirza-you may trust my rhyme-
Something does follow at a fitter time;
The breast thus publicly resign'd to man,
In private may resist him--if it can.
O ye! who loved our grandmothers of yore,
F-tz-t-k, Sh-r-d-n, and many more!
And thou, my prince! whose sovereign taste and w.
It is to love the lovely beldames still;
Thou, ghost of Q▬▬▬▬! whose judging sprite
Satan may spare to peep a single night,
Pronounce if ever in your days of bliss-
Asmodeus struck so bright a stroke as this;
To teach the young ideas how to rise,
Flush in the cheek and languish in the eyes;
Rush to the heart, and lighten through the frame,
With half-told wish, and ill-dissembled flame;
For prurient nature still will storm the breast-
Who, tempted thus, can answer for the rest?
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