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deepundergroundpoetry.com
Never Give a “Lady” a Restive Horse – Sonnet Nineteen
A restive horse, no gift a “Lady” make,
For “Lady’s” stride should simple gestures grace,
Lest in her sport, her seat that posting take,
Decorum speaks, should “Lady” never brace.
Though such a rider she, she may protest,
In taming such a horse, her pleasures wrought,
That with its buck and lunge, her sure contest
To still such beast, she shows her measures tau(gh)t.
For in such work, from “Lady’s” measure may
In strike and strump, come most “un-Lady’s” gait,
In leap and loft, her seat and measure’s sway,
May “Lady-like”, unsullied state negate.
So never gift a “Lady” restive horse,
'Though she, with seat and measure, may endorse.
For “Lady’s” stride should simple gestures grace,
Lest in her sport, her seat that posting take,
Decorum speaks, should “Lady” never brace.
Though such a rider she, she may protest,
In taming such a horse, her pleasures wrought,
That with its buck and lunge, her sure contest
To still such beast, she shows her measures tau(gh)t.
For in such work, from “Lady’s” measure may
In strike and strump, come most “un-Lady’s” gait,
In leap and loft, her seat and measure’s sway,
May “Lady-like”, unsullied state negate.
So never gift a “Lady” restive horse,
'Though she, with seat and measure, may endorse.
Published 19th May 2019
Author's Note
The title and inspiration come from a book published in 1968 as an amalgam of the thoughts and writings on late Victorian etiquette by Thomas Edie Hill 1832-1915.
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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