A Rondeau to Ethel
"In tea-cup times"! The style of dress
Would meet your beauty, I confess;
Belinda-like, the patch you'd wear;
I picture you the powdered hair,—
You'd make a charming Shepherdess!
And I—no doubt—could well express
Sir Plume's complete conceitedness,—
Could poise a clouded cane with care
"In tea-cup times"!
The parts would fit precisely—yes;
We should achieve a huge success!
You should disdain, and I despair,
With quite the true Augustan air;
But ... could I love you more, or less,—
"In tea-cup times"?
—Austin Dobson