Nor less that shirt, my rival's gift,
Cut from the piece that made her shift,
Shall in thy dearest blood be dyed,
And make thee tear thy tainted hide.
[Footnote 1: The solution is, _phtheirhiasis_ morbus pedicularis. With
this piece may be read Peter Pindar's epic, "The Lousiad."--W. E. B_.]
[Footnote 2: Plutarch tells how Sylla's body was so corrupted with these
vermin, that they streamed from him into every place: _pasan estheta kai
loutron kai aponimma kai sition anapimplasthai tou reumatos ekeinon kai
tes phthoras. tosouton exenthei._ "Vita Syllae," xxxvi.--_W. E. B._]
[Footnote 3: Hercules, who died from wearing the shirt (given him by his
wife as a charm against his infidelities) stained with the blood of
Nessus, the centaur, whom Hercules had slain with a poisoned arrow. Ovid,
"Epist. Heroid. Deianira Herculi," and "Metam.," lib. ix,
101.--_W. E. B._]
A MAYPOLE. 1725
Deprived of root, and branch and rind,
Yet flowers I bear of every kind:
And such is my prolific power,
They bloom in less than half an hour;
Yet standers-by may plainly see
They get no nourishment from me.
My head with giddiness goes round,
And yet I firmly stand my ground:
All over naked I am seen,
And painted like an Indian queen.
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