The Scarlet Gown

n aunts, no longer young,
But learned ladies,
Had lately sent him Songs Unsung,

Epic of Hades,

Gycia_, and _Gwen. He thought them fine;

Not like that Browning,
Of whom he would not read a line,

He told me, frowning.

Talking of Horace--very clever,

Beyond a doubt,
But what the Satires meant, he never

Yet could make out.

I said I relished Satire Nine

Of the First Book;
But he had skipped to the divine

Eliza Cook.

He took occasion to declare,
In tones devoted,
How much he loved her old Arm-chair,

Which now he quoted.

And other poets he reviewed,

Some two or three,
Till, having touched on Thomas Hood,

He turned to me.

'Have you been stringing any rhymes

Of late?' he said.
I could not lie, but several times

I shook my head.

The last straw to the earth will bow

The o'erloaded camel,
And surely I resembled now