152 THE lover’s offering, 
Discoursing of rank and of pedigree, came, 
With a beau of distinction, Van Tulip by name; 
Field-officer Poppy, in trim militaire; 
An unfortunate youth, Hyacinthtts the fair ; 
With Major Convolvulus, fresh from parade, 
And his son, though a Minor, in purple cockade ; 
A pair from the country, affecting no show, 
Pretty Betsy the belle, aad Sweet-william 
the beau, 
Succeeded; and next, in the simplest attire, 
Miss Jessamine pale, and her lover Sweet-brier ; 
Auricula came, in puce velvet and white, 
With her spouse Polyanthus, a rich city knight; 
Messrs. Stocks from ’Change Alley,* in crimson 
array, 
The twin-brother Larkspurs, two fops of the day; 
With light-hearted Columbine, playing the fool, 
And footing away like a frolic from school; 
Then a distant relation, ’twas said, of the bride. 
Water-lily, a nymph from the rivulet’s side; 
And last, hand-in-hand, at the end of the train, 
Violetta and Daisy, from Hazel-nut lane. 
Mezereon had fully designed to be there, 
But was only half dressed, and obliged to forbear; 
And the Evening Primrose was pale with cha¬ 
grin 
That her cap did not come till the day had closed in. 
* Change Alley —for Exchange Alley, a passage near 
where the Royal Exchange stood, much frequented 
by dealers in Stock, as money is sometimes called. 
