Just twenty years she counted at the time,

And now a widow was, though in her prime,

(Her spouse, an aged dotard, worth a plum:—

Of those whose loss to mourn no tears e'er come.)

OUR seraph fair, such loveliness possessed,

In num'rous ways a Gascon could have blessed;

Above, below, appeared angelic charms;

'Twas Paradise, 'twas Heav'n, within her arms!

THE Gascon was—a Gascon;—would you more?

Who knows a Gascon knows at least a score.