exaggerates, he strains after wit, he is always an author. Not venturing to address Sacharissa herself, he addresses Mrs. Braughton, her attendant, "his fellow-servant": "So, in those nations which the Sun adore, Some modest Persian, or some weak-eyed Moor, No higher dares advance his dazzled sight Than to some gilded cloud, which near the light Of their ascending god adorns the east, And, graced with his beam, outshines the rest."[303] A fine comparison! That is a well-made courtesy; I hope Sacharissa responds with one equally correct. His despairs bear the same flavor; he pierces the groves of Penshurst with his cries, "reports his flame to the beeches," and the well-bred beeches "bow their heads, as' if they felt the same."[304] It is probable that, in these mournful walks, his greatest care was lest he should wet the soles of his high-heeled shoes. These transports of love bring in the classical machinery, Apollo and the Muses. Apollo is annoyed that one of his servants is ill-treated, and bids him depart; and he departs, telling Sacharissa that she is harder than an oak, and that she was certainly produced from a rock.[305] There is one genuine reality in all this--sensuality; not ardent, but light and gay. There is a certain piece, "The Fall," which an abbé of the court of Louis XV might have written: "Then blush not, Fair! or on him frown,... How could the youth, alas! but bend When his whole Heav'n upon him lean'd? If aught by him amiss were done, 'Twas that he let you rise so soon."[306] Other pieces smack of their surroundings, and are not so polished: "Amoret! as sweet as good, As the most delicious food, Which but tasted does impart Life and gladness to the heart."[307] I should not be pleased, were I a woman, to be compared to a beef-steak, though that be appetizing; nor should I like any more to find myself, like Sacharissa, placed on a level with good wine, which flies to the head: "Sacharissa's beauty's wine, Which to madness doth incline; Such a liquor as no brain That is mortal can sustain."[308]