The
Butterfly’s Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feasts
Excited the spleen of the Birds and the Beasts:
For their mirth and good cheer—of the Bee was the theme,
And the Gnat blew his horn, as he danc’d in the beam.
’Twas humm’d by the Beetle, ’twas buzz’d by the Fly,
And sung by the myriads that sport through the sky.
The Quadrupeds listen’d with sullen displeasure,
But the tenants of air were enraged beyond measure.
The
Peacock
display’d his bright plumes to the Sun,
And, addressing his Mates, thus indignant begun:
[p
4
]
“Shall we, like domestic, inelegant Fowls,
As unpolished as Geese, and as stupid as Owls,
Sit tamely at home, hum drum with our Spouses,
While Crickets and Butterflies open their houses?
Shall such mean little insects pretend to the fashion?
Cousin Turkey-cock, well may you be in a passion!
If I suffer such insolent airs to prevail,
May Juno pluck out all the eyes in my tail?
So a Fête I will give, and my taste I’ll display,
And send out my cards for St. Valentine’s Day.”
—This determin’d, six fleet Carrier-pigeons went out,
To invite all the birds to Sir Argus’s Rout.
The nest-loving
Turtle-dove
sent an excuse;
Dame Partlet
lay in, as did good Mrs.
Goose
.
The
Turkey
, poor soul! was confined to
the rip
:
For all her young brood had just fail’d with the pip.
The
Partridge
was ask’d; but a Neighbour hard by
Had engag’d a snug party to meet in a Pye;
And the
Wheat-ear
declin’d recollecting her Cousins,
Last year, to a feast were invited by dozens,
[p
5
]
But, alas! they return’d not; and she had no taste
To appear in a costume of vine-leaves or paste.
The
Woodcock
preferr’d his lone haunt on the moor;
And the Traveller,
Swallow
, was still on his tour.
While the
Cuckoo
, who should have been one of the guests
Was rambling on visits to other
Birds’
Nests.
Original
illustration→
“Such ruffling of feathers, such pruning of coats, &c.”
Page 5
.
But the rest all accepted the kind invitation,
And much bustle it caused in the plumed creation:
Such ruffling of feathers, such pruning of coats;
Such chirping, such whistling, such clearing of throats;
Such polishing bills and such oiling of pinions
Had never been known in the biped dominions.
For all the young Birdlings, who wish’d to be Beaux:
He made for the
Robin
a doublet of red,
And a new velvet cap for the
Goldfinch’s
head;
He added a plume to the
Wren’s
golden crest,
And spangled with silver the
Guinea-Fowl’s
breast;
While the
Halcyon
bent over the streamlet to view,
How pretty she look’d in her boddice of blue!
[p
6
]
Thus adorn’d, they set off for the Peacock’s abode,
With the Guide
Indicator
, who show’d them the road:
From all points of the compass, flock’d Birds of all feather;
And the
Parrot
can tell who and who were together.
And Don
Peroqueto
, escap’d from Domingo;
From his high rock built eyrie the
Eagle
came forth,
And the Duchess of
Ptarmigan
flew from the North.
The
Grebe
and the
Eider Duck
came up by water,
With the
Swan
, who brought out the young
Cygnet
, her daughter.
From his woodland abode came the
Pheasant
to meet
Two kindred, arrived by the last India fleet;
The one, like a Nabob, in habit most splendid,
Where gold with each hue of the Rainbow was blended:
In silver and black, like a fair pensive Maid,
Who mourns for her love, was the other array’d.
The
Chough
came from Cornwall, and brought up his Wife;
The
Grouse
travell’d south, from his Lairdship in Fife;
[p
7
]
The
Bunting
forsook her soft nest in the reeds,
And the
Widow-bird
came, though she still wore her weeds.
Sir John
Heron
, of the Lakes, strutted in a
grand pas
,
But no card had been sent to the pilfering
Daw
,
As the Peacock kept up his progenitor’s quarrel,
Which Æsop relates, about cast-off apparel;
For Birds are like Men in their contests together,
And, in questions of right, can dispute for a feather.
Original
illustration→
“From his high rock-built eyrie the Eagle came forth, &c.”
Page 6
.
Original
illustration→
“A holly-bush form’d the orchestra, &c.”
Page 7
.
The
Peacock
, Imperial, the pride of his race,
Receiv’d all his guests with an infinite grace,
Wav’d high his blue neck, and his train he display’d,
Embroider’d with gold, and with em’ralds inlaid.
Then with all the gay troop to the shrubb’ry repair’d,
Where the musical Birds had a concert prepar’d;
A holly bush form’d the Orchestra, and in it
Sat the Black-bird, the Thrush, the Lark, and the Linnet;
A
Bull-finch
, a captive! almost from the nest,
Now escap’d from his cage, and, with liberty blest,
In a sweet mellow tone, join’d the lessons of art
With the accents of nature, which flow’d from his heart.
[p
8
]
The
Canary
, a much admir’d foreign musician,
Condescended to sing to the Fowls of condition.
While the
Nightingale
warbled and quaver’d so fine,
That they all clapp’d their wings, and pronounc’d it divine!
The
Sky Lark
, in extacy, sang from a cloud,
And
Chanticleer
crow’d, and the
Yaffil
laugh’d loud.
The dancing began, when the singing was over;
A
Dotterell
first opened the ball with the
Plover
;
Baron
Stork
, in a waltz, was allowed to excel,
And a newly-fledg’d
Gosling
, so fair and genteel,
A minuet swam with the spruce Mr.
Teal
.
A London-bred
Sparrow
—>a pert forward Cit!
Danc’d a reel with Miss
Wagtail
, and little
Tom Tit
.
And the Sieur
Guillemot
next performed a
pas seul
,
While the elderly bipeds were playing a Pool.
The Dowager Lady
Toucan
first cut in,
With old Doctor
Buzzard
and Adm’ral
Penguin
,
From Ivy bush tow’r came Dame
Owlet
the Wise,
Original
illustration→
“Baron Stork, in a waltz, was allowed to excel, &c.”
Page 8
.
Original
illustration→
“The Dowager Lady Toucan first cut in, &c.”
Page 8
.
Original
illustration→
“Till a Magpie, at length, the banquet announcing, &c.”
Page 9
.
[p
9
]
Some birds past their prime, o’er whose heads it was fated,
Should pass many St. Valentines—yet be unmated,
Sat by, and remark’d that the prudent and sage
Were quite overlook’d in this frivolous age,
When Birds, scarce pen-feathered, were brought to a rout,
Forward Chits! from the egg-shell but newly come out:
In their youthful days, they ne’er witness’d such frisking,
And how wrong! in the
Greenfinch
to flirt with the
Siskin
.
So thought Lady
Mackaw
, and her Friend
Cockatoo
,
And the
Raven
foretold that no good could ensue!
They censur’d the
Bantam
for strutting and crowing
In those vile pantaloons, which he fancied look’d knowing:
And a want of decorum caus’d many demurs
Against the
Game Chicken
, for coming in spurs.
Old Alderman
Cormrant
, for supper impatient,
At the Eating-room door, for an hour had been station’d,
Till a
Magpye
, at length, the banquet announcing,
Gave the signal, long wish’d for, of clamouring and pouncing;
At the well-furnish’d board all were eager to perch,
But the little Miss
Creepers
were left in the lurch.
[p
10
]
Description must fail; and the pen is unable
To recount all the lux’ries that cover’d the table.
Each delicate viand that taste could denote,
Wasps
a la sauce piquante
, and Flies
en compôte
;
Worms and Frogs
en friture
, for the web-footed Fowl;
And a barbecu’d Mouse was prepar’d for the Owl;
Nuts, grains, fruit, and fish, to regale ev’ry palate,
And groundsel and chickweed serv’d up in a sallad,
So they fill’d all their crops with the dainties before ’em,
And the tables were clear’d with the utmost decorum.
When they gaily had caroll’d till peep of the dawn,
The Lark gently hinted, ’twas time to be gone;
And his clarion, so shrill, gave the company warning,
That Chanticleer scented the gales of the morning.
So they chirp’d, in full chorus, a friendly adieu;
And, with hearts beating light as the plumage that grew
On their merry-thought bosoms, away they all flew.
Original
illustration→
“So they fill’d all their crops, &c.”
Page 10
.
[p
11
]
Then long live the
Peacock
, in splendour unmatch’d,
Whose Ball shall be talk’d of, by Birds yet unhatch’d,
His praise let the
Trumpeter
loudly proclaim,
And the
Goose
lend her quill to transmit it to Fame.