TO CIRCE.
"If doughty deeds my lady please,"
Though somewhat old and gouty,
The first occasion I will seize
Of doing something "doughty";
"If gay attire delights your eye,
I'll dight me in array"
Which every casual passer-by
Will think extremely gay.
"If sweetest sounds can win your ear,"
I'll cheerfully begin
(Though somewhat late in life, I fear),
To learn the violin;
In fact, whatever task you set,
You'll speedily discover
That in the writer you have met
A most submissive lover.
I could exemplify the fact
Through several extra verses,
How I would please, by every act,
My kindliest of Circe's;
And yet by destiny malign
You've happened just to choose
The single task which, though divine
The bidder, I refuse.
The single task—and pardon, pray,
If, not without compunction,
Reluctantly I disobey
Your positive injunction:
Ask what you will, I'll undertake
The deed, however big,
But do not——blind my eyes and make
Me try to draw a pig!