O Fons Bandusae
July 5, 2023Refining Fuller, Make Me Clean
July 5, 2023“You Bid Me Try”
You bid me try, blue-eyes, to write
A Rondeau. What! — forthwith? — tonight?
Reflect. Some skill I have, ’tis true; But thirteen lines! — and rimed on two! “Refrain” as well. Ah, Hapless plight!
Still, there are five lines — ranged aright.
These Gallic bonds, I feared, would fright
My easy Muse. They did, till you — You bid me try!
That makes them eight. The port’s in sight —
‘Tis all because your eyes are bright!
Now just a pair to end in “oo” — When maids command, what can’t we do? Behold! — the rondeau, tasteful, light,
You bid me try!
Austin Dobson
Austin Dobson (1840-1921) was an English poet and biographer. He is known for his works such as "The Songs of a Savoyard" (1884), "Proverbs in Porcelain" (1887), "Eighteenth Century Vignettes" (1890), and "Echoes" (1894). He was also a prolific biographer, writing about the lives of figures such as Horace Walpole, William Hogarth, and Samuel Johnson. His works are known for their wit and humor, as well as their insight into the lives of the people he wrote about.