BOOK SECOND

INTIMACIES
I

Take cedar, take the creamy card,
With regal head at angle dight;
And though to snatch the time be hard,
To all our loves at home we'll write.

II

Strange group! in Bowness' street we stand—
Nine swains enamoured of our wives,
Each quaintly writing on his hand,
In haste, as 'twere to save our lives.

III

O wondrous messenger, to fly
All through the night from post to post!
Thou bearest home a kiss, a sigh—
And but a halfpenny the cost!

IV

To-morrow when they crack their eggs,
They'll say beside each matin urn—
"These men are still upon their legs;
Heaven bless 'em—may they soon return!"