s and feudal bark,
Is an aristocratic article:
But split and sawn, and hack'd about town,
Serving all needs of pauper or clown,
Trod on! stagger'd on! Wood cut down
Is vulgar--fibre and particle!

CXII.

And Cork!--when the noble Cork Tree shades
A lovely group of Castilian maids,
'Tis a thing for a song or sonnet!--
But cork, as it stops the bottle of gin,
Or bungs the beer--the _small_ beer--in,
It pierced her heart like a corking-pin,
To think of standing upon it!

CXIII.

A Leg of Gold--solid gold throughout,
Nothing else, whether slim or stout,
Should ever support her, God willing!
She must--she could--she would have her whim,
Her father, she turn'd a deaf ear to him--
He might kill her--she didn't mind killing!
He was welcome to cut off her other limb--
He might cut her all off with a shilling!

CXIV.

All other promised gifts were in vain.
Golden Girdle, or Golden Chain,
She writhed with impatience more than pain,
And utter'd "pshaws!" and "pishes!"
But a Leg of Gold as she lay in bed,
It danced before her--it ran in her head!
It jump'd with her dearest wishes!

CXV.

"Gold--gold--gold! Oh, let it be gold!"
Asleep or awake that tale she told,
And when she grew delirious:
Till her parents resolved to grant her wish,
If they melted down plate, and goblet, and dish,
The case was getting so serious.

CXVI.

So a Leg was made in a comely mould,
Of gold, fine virgin glittering gold,
As solid as man could make it--
Solid in foot, and calf, and shank,
A prodigious sum of money it sank;
In fact 'twas a Branch of the family Bank,
And no easy matter to break it.

CXVII.

All sterling metal--not half-and-half,
The Goldsmith's mark was stamp'd on the calf--
'Twas pure as from Mexican barter!
And to make it more costly, just over the knee,
Where another ligature used to be,
Was a circle of jewels, worth shillings to see,
A new-fangled Badge of the Garter!

CXVIII.

'Twas a splendid, brilliant, beautiful Leg,
Fit for the Court of Scander-Beg,
That Precious Leg of Miss Kilmansegg!
For, thanks to parental bounty,
Secure from Mortification's touch,
She stood on a Member that cost as much
As a Member for all the County!

HER FAME.

CXIX.

To gratify stern ambition's whims,
What hundreds and thousands of precious limbs
On a field of battle we scatter!
Sever'd by sword, or bullet, or saw,
Off they go, all bleeding and raw,--
But t