THE PRINCESS 31
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s blank as death in marble ; then exclaim’d 175Averring it was clear against all rulesFor any man to go: but as his brainBegan to mellow, “If the king,” he said,“Had given us letters, was he bound to speak ?The king would bear him out ;” And at the last— 180The summer of the vine in all his veins— 7 oe bere att ’“No doubt that we might make it worth his while.She once had past that way ; he heard her speak ;She scared him ; life! he never saw the like ;She look’d as grand as doomsday and as grave : 185And he, he reverenced his liege-lady there ;He always made a point to post with mares ;His daughter and his housemaid were the boys:The land, he understood, for miles aboutWas till’d by women ;_ all the swine were sows, 190And all the dogs ”— But while he jested thus,A thought flash’d thro’ me which I clothed in act,Remembering how we three presented MaidOr Nymph, or Goddess, at high tide of feast,In masque or pageant at my father’s court. 195We sent mine host to purchase female gear ;He bought it, and himself, a sight to shakeThe midriff of despair with laughter, holpTo lace us up, till, each, in maiden plumesWe rustled : him we gave a costly bribe 200 181. the summer of the vine, the genial warmth of the wine. 187. to post, to run a service of coaches. 188. boys, postilions. 192. clothed in act, carried out in actual performance. 193. presented, acted the réle of. 195. Masques and pageants were theatrical representations, usuallyspectacular and allegorical in character, accompanied by music, Theywere often produced in the open air. Milton’s Comus is a celebratedexample of a masque. 198. holp, old past tense of help.
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