Or if a purpos'd trick's to blame,
A smart kick caus'd the door to close
And caught the damsel by the nose.
The luckless nose was rather long,
And had its gristle not been strong,
Had not the door been edg'd with baize
To give its hurried motion ease,—
Had it been sharp, the wicked pinch
Might have cut short that nose an inch.
Madge now scream'd out at her disaster,
And swore that she would tell her master,
But our Ezekiel found a plaister; | } |
Though what the plaister was he found
To silence tongues and cure the wound,
We must not nice enquiry make
For virtue's and our hero's sake.
But we may tell, for this we know,
That all was still and calm below;
Though as the faithful verse will prove
He shap'd another plan above,
Form'd to controul all household feud,
And be as honest as he could;
Thus give to things another face
To live at ease and keep his place.
—Two int'rests into one were thrown,
Those of Sir Jeff'ry and his own:
The former strictly to maintain,
Nor yet the latter to disdain;
The Knight's confiding grace to keep,
Nor let his own advantage sleep;
The kitchen's jovial mirth to boast,
But leave the cook to rule the roast;
To be of Molly's smiles possest,
Though never to offend the rest:
And here we fear is the beginning,
The first short lesson of his sinning. |