28.10.2007, 13:10
SONNET ON THE NONPAREIL.
With marble-coloured shoulders, and keen eyes
Protected by a forehead broad and white,
And hair cut close lest it impede the sight,
And clenched hands, firm and of punishing size,
Steadily held or motioned wary-wise
To hit or stop, and 'kerchief too drawn tight
O'er the unyielding loins to keep from flight
The inconstant wind that all too often flies,
The Nonpareil stands. Fame, whose bright eyes run o'er
With joy to see a Chicken of her own,
Dips her rich pen in claret, and writes down
Under the letter R, first on the score
Randall, John ; Irish parents ; age not known;
Good with both hands ; and only ten stone four.'
With marble-coloured shoulders, and keen eyes
Protected by a forehead broad and white,
And hair cut close lest it impede the sight,
And clenched hands, firm and of punishing size,
Steadily held or motioned wary-wise
To hit or stop, and 'kerchief too drawn tight
O'er the unyielding loins to keep from flight
The inconstant wind that all too often flies,
The Nonpareil stands. Fame, whose bright eyes run o'er
With joy to see a Chicken of her own,
Dips her rich pen in claret, and writes down
Under the letter R, first on the score
Randall, John ; Irish parents ; age not known;
Good with both hands ; and only ten stone four.'