Is still their boast;—nor, haply, theirs alone,
Polito’s lions (though now dormant laid)
And human monsters, shall acquire renown,
The spotted Negro—and the armless maid!
Peace to the youth, who, slumbering at the Bear,
Forgets his present lot, his perils past:
Soon will the crowd again be thronging there,
To view the man on wild Sombrero cast.
Careful their booths, from insult to protect,
These furl their tapestry, late erected high;
Nor longer with prodigious pictures deck’d,
They tempt the passing youth’s astonish’d eye.
But when the day calls forth the belles and beaux,
The cunning showmen each device display,
And many a clown the useful notice shows,
To teach ascending strangers—where to pay.
Sleep on, ye imps of merriment—sleep on!
In this short respite to your labouring train;
And when this time of annual mirth is gone,
May ye enjoy, in peace, your hard-earned gain![333]
NATURALISTS’ CALENDAR.
Mean Temperature 60·40.
[331] Mirror of the Months.