ed lies
On her bed of bonny briers keeping off the wicked flies.

Thou shalt know her by th' aroma of her bosom, which is musk,
And her ivories that glisten like an elephantine tusk.

Seek her coral-guarded tympanum and whisper "Poppinjai!"
And (referring to her lover) kindly add "A-lal-lal-lai!"

Breeze! thou knowest my condition; state it broadly, if you please,
In a smattering of Indo-Turco-Perso-Japanese.

Say my youth is flitting freely, and before the season goes
From the garden of my Tutsi I am fain to pluck a rose.

Tell her I'm a wanton Sufi (what a Sufi really is
She may know, perhaps--I count it one of Allah's mysteries).

Fly, O blessed Breeze, and hither bring me back the net result;
Fly as flies the rude mosquito from Abdullah's catapult.

Fly as flies the rusty rickshaw of the Kurumayasan,
When he scents a Hippopotam down the groves of Gulistan.

Fly and cull, O cull, a section of my Pipkin's purple tress;
Thou shalt find me drinking deeply with the Lords that rule the
Mess;

Quaffing mead and mighty sodas with the Johnis, Lords of War,
Talking 'jungle in the gun-room,' underneath the deodar.

Hoo Tawa! I go to join them; he that cometh late is curst,
For the Lords of War (by Akbar) have a most amazing thirst!

3.

MARSYAS IN HADES.

(AFTER SIR L. M.)

Next I saw
A pensive gentleman of middle age,
That leaned against a Druid oak, his pipe
Pendent beneath his chin--a double one--
(Meaning the pipe); reluctant was his breath,
For he had mingled in the Morris dance
And rested blown; but damsels in their teens,
All decorous and decorously clad,
Their very ankles hardly visible,
Recalled his motions; while, for chaperon,
Good Mrs. Grundy up against the wall
Beamed approbation.

On his face I read
Signs of high sadness such as poets wear,
Being divinely discontented with
The praise of _jeunes filles_. Even as I looked,
He touched the portion of his pipe reserved
For minor poetry of solemn tone,
Checking the humorous stops intended for
Electioneering posters and the like;
And therewithal he made the following
Addition to his _Songs Unsung_, or else
His _Unremarked Remarks_:

"Dear Sir," he said,
"Excuse my saying 'Sir' like that; it is
Our way in Hades here among the damned;
For you must know that som