For it no glories of the lawn, No whirling in the valse that greets the dawn, No record in the fleeting roll of fame That gives the wearer's name, And tells a waiting world what gown she wore; While that which went before No cheaply-sober destiny has found But graced fair Fashion's ground, Where Pleasure, gaily deck'd, Within the fancied circle of select, Watches the Polo cavalry at war, The victim pigeons tumbled in their gore, The rival Blues at Lord's, the racing steeds On Ascot's piney meads, Or where luxuriant Goodwood's massy trees Murmur to no common breeze, And see afar the glint of England's summer seas.
Impute no fault, ye proud, nor grandeur mock, If frugal Elegance, discreet and fair, The aftermath of lavish Fashion reap, And, having waited long with nought to wear, Get the same goods, though late, and get them cheap. Next year the daintiest gowns by lawn and lock May haply be the fruit of surplus summer stock.
Pope for the Emancipated Sex.—"The understudy of mankind is woman."
LYRE AND LANCET.
(A Story in Scenes.)
PART VI.—ROUND PEGS IN SQUARE HOLES.
Scene IX.—The Entrance Hall at Wyvern.