in the dance was barred by an
unhappy physical disability--addressed the new-comer in characteristic
verse. Some of the lines in this ingenious nobleman's apostrophe are not
altogether intelligible, when applied to any dance that we know by the
name of waltz. For example:

Pleased round the chalky floor, how well they trip,
One hand[A] reposing on the royal hip,
The other to the shoulder no less royal
Ascending with affection truly loyal.

[Footnote A: _I.e._ one of the lady's hands.]

These lines imply an attitude unknown to contemporary waltzers, but the
description involves no poetic license. Our dear grandmothers (giddy,
giddy girls!) did their waltz that way. Let me quote:

The lady takes the gentleman round the neck with one arm, resting
against his shoulder. During the motion, the dancers are continually
changing their relative situations: now the gentleman brings his arm
about the lady's neck, and the lady takes him round the waist.

At another point, the lady may "lean gently on his shoulder," their arms
(as it appears) "entwining." This description is by an eyewitness, whose
observation is taken, not at the rather debauched court of the Prince
Regent, but at the simple republican assemblies of New York. The
observer is the gentle Irving, writing in 1807. Occasional noteworthy
experiences they must have had--those modest, blooming grandmothers--for,
it is to be borne in mind, tipsiness was rather usual with dancing
gentlemen in the fine old days of Port and Madeira; and the blithe,
white-armed grandmothers themselves did sip their punch, to a man.
However, we may forbear criticism. We, at least, owe nothing but
reverent gratitude to a generation from which we derive life, waltzing
and the memory of Madeira. Even when read, as it needs should be read,
in the light of that prose description of the dance to which it was
addressed, Lord Byron's welcome to the waltz will be recognized as one
more illustration of a set of hoary and moss-grown truths.

As parlor-soldiers, graced with fancy-scars,
Rehearse their bravery in imagined wars;
As paupers, gathered in congenial flocks,
Babble of banks, insurances, and stocks;
As each if oft'nest eloquent of what
He hates or covets, but possesses not;
As cowards talk of pluck; misers of waste;
Scoundrels of honor; country clowns of taste;
Ladies of logic; devotees of sin;
Topers of water; temperance men of gin-