Book Description

The Peacock 'At Home' AND The Butterfly's Ball AND The Fancy Fair by Catherine Ann Turner Dorset 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 danced 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: "Shall we, like domestic, inelegant Fowls, As unpolish'd 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 Fète I will give, and my taste I'll display, And send out my cards for St. Valentine's Day." [p7] This determined, 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 engaged a snug party to meet in a Pie: And the Wheat-ear declined, recollecting her Cousins, Last year, to a feast were invited by dozens, - 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. But the rest all accepted the kind invitation, And much bustle it caused in the plumed creation. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.