First, he courted his charmer in sorrowful fashion, Then he alter'd his tone, and was heard to declare, If valour deserv'd the regard of the fair, That his courage was tried, tho' he scorn'd to disclose How many brave fellows he 'd took by the nose. He was known for a patriot staunch, and his shop Thus this Knight of the Bason confounded together Indignant She answer'd: "No chin-scraping sot "Shall be fasten'd to me by the conjugal knot : "No!-to Tyburn repair, if a noose you must tie, "Other fish I have got, Mr. Tonsor, to fry. "Holborn-bridge and Black-friars my triumphs can tell, "From Billingsgate beauties I've long born the bell: Nay, tripemen and fishmongers vie for my favour "Then d'ye think I'll take up with a Twopenny Shaver? "Let dory, or turbot, the sov'reign of fish, "Cheek by jowl with red herring be serv'd in one dish; "Let sturgeon and sprats in one pickle unite, "When I angle for husbands and barbers shall bite." But the Barber persisted (Ah, could I relate 'em!) With fair speeches cajol'd, as you 'd tickle a trout, 'Gainst the Barber the Fishwife no more could hold out, He applied the right bait, 'twas with flattery he caught her; Without flattery a female 's a fish out of water. The state of her heart when the Barber once guess'd With profuse panegyric his charmer preferring To maids, widows, and wives, fish, flesh, and red herring. The flame to allay that their bosoms did sō burn, The nuptials to grace came, from every quarter, Musclemongers and oystermen, crimps, and coalheavers, From their voices united such melody flow'd As the Abbey ne'er witness'd, nor Tott'nham Court Road : While Saint Andrew's brave bells did so loud and so clear ring, You'd have given ten pounds to 've been out of their hearing. For his fee-when the parson this couple had join'd, A MORSEL FOR A MUSSULMAN: OR, A REVELATION OF THE FUTURE STATE OF DECEASED FEMALES, IN REFUTATION OF THE SUPPOSED MAHOMETAN DOCTRINE, ASSERTING THAT WOMEN HAVE NO SOULS, AND ARE EXCLUDED FROM PARADISE. Non Me impia namque Tartara habent tristesque umbræ: sed amœna Concilia Elysiumque colo. Virg. Æn. i. 5. FROM the blest realms where Paradise displays Her empyrean splendour's ceaseless blaze, To genial gales immortal blooms unfold; From nectar'd streams where Houris, heavenly-fair, Bathe the bright tresses of their odorous hair; To Zeineb, loveliest of the passive train, That 'midst the Haram's hated glooms complain, A pause from bliss, and thus her state reveals: |