The Peacock At Home

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Title: The Peacock 'At Home:'
A Sequel to the Butterfly's Ball
Author: Catherine Ann Dorset
Release Date: November 1, 2007 [EBook #23281]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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PEACOCK 'AT HOME:' ***
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THE
PEACOCK "_AT HOME_:"

A SEQUEL
TO THE
BUTTERFLY'S BALL.
WRITTEN
BY A LADY.
_THE TWENTY-SEVENTH EDITION, WITH NOTES._

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. HARRIS,
CORNER OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD.
1815.
_J. Swan, Printer, 76, Fleet Street, London._

[p 3]
THE
PEACOCK "_AT HOME_."
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 danc'd 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, [p 4] As unpolished 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 Fête I will give, and my
taste I'll display,
And send out my cards for St. Valentine's Day."

--This determin'd, 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 engag'd a snug party to meet in a Pye;
And
the WHEAT-EAR declin'd recollecting her Cousins,
Last year, to a
feast were invited by dozens,
But, alas! they return'd not; and she had
no taste [p 5] To appear