Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
III. WarThe Dance
AnonymousC
The like was never seen, sir,
Much retrograde and much advance,
And all with General Greene, sir.
Joined hands, then off they run, sir.
Our General Greene to Charlestown,
The earl to Wilmington, sir.
And got a mighty name, sir,
Cornwallis jigged with young Fayette,
But suffered in his fame, sir.
Most like a lordly dancer,
And on his courtly honor swore
He would no more advance, sir.
With footing country dances,
They never at St. James’s shone,
At capers, kicks, or prances.
While sauntering on parade, sir,
Or wiggling o’er the park’s smooth green,
Or at a masquerade, sir.
For stumps and briars meet, sir?
Or stand they chance with hunting-shirts,
Or hardy veteran feet, sir?
At minuet or all ’amande,
And lessons for a courtly ball
His guards by day and night conned.
A set who had the bon ton,
De Grasse and Rochambeau, whose fame
Fut brillant pour un long tems.
Whom every nature taught, sir,
That grace which can’t by pains be won,
Or Plutus’s gold be bought, sir.
This ever-dancing peer, sir;
Their gentle movements soon confound
The earl as they draw near, sir.
His feet can move no more, sir,
And all his bands now curse the day
They jiggèd to our shore, sir.
Come—is not this a griper,
That while your hopes are danced away,
’T is you must pay the piper?