LVII.

Gold! still gold! it rained on the nurse,
Who—­unlike Danaee—­was none the worse! 
  There was nothing but guineas glistening! 
  Fifty were given to Doctor James,
  For calling the little Baby names,
  And for saying, Amen! 
  The Clerk had ten,
And that was the end of the Christening.

HER CHILDHOOD.

LVIII.

Our youth! our childhood! that spring of springs! 
’Tis surely one of the blessedest things
  That nature ever intended! 
When the rich are wealthy beyond their wealth,
And the poor are rich in spirits and health,
  And all with their lots contented!

LIX.

There’s little Phelim, he sings like a thrush,
In the selfsame pair of patchwork plush,
  With the selfsame empty pockets,
That tempted his daddy so often to cut
His throat, or jump in the water-butt—­
But what cares Phelim? an empty nut
  Would sooner bring tears to their sockets.

LX.

Give him a collar without a skirt,
(That’s the Irish linen for shirt)
And a slice of bread with a taste of dirt,
  (That’s Poverty’s Irish butter)
And what does he lack to make him blest? 
Some oyster-shells, or a sparrow’s nest,
  A candle-end and a gutter.

LXI.

But to leave the happy Phelim alone,
Gnawing, perchance, a marrowless bone,
  For which no dog would quarrel—­
Turn we to little Miss Kilmansegg,
Cutting her first little toothy-peg
  With a fifty-guinea coral—­
    A peg upon which
    About poor and rich
Reflection might hang a moral.

LXII.

Born in wealth, and wealthily nursed,
Capp’d, papp’d, napp’d, and lapp’d from the first
  On the knees of Prodigality,
Her childhood was one eternal round
Of the game of going on Tickler’s ground
  Picking up gold—­in reality.

LXIII.

With extempore carts she never play’d,
Or the odds and ends of a Tinker’s Trade,
Or little dirt pies and puddings made,
  Like children happy and squalid;
The very puppet she had to pet,
Like a bait for the “Nix my Dolly” set,
  Was a Dolly of gold—­and solid!

LXIV.

Gold! and gold! ’twas the burden still! 
To gain the Heiress’s early good-will
  There was much corruption and bribery—­
The yearly cost of her golden toys
Would have given half London’s Charity Boys
And Charity Girls the annual joys
  Of a holiday dinner at Highbury.