At length Phoebus dawn'd on the long wish'd-for day [p 7]

At length Phoebus dawn'd on the long wish'd-for day Which their beauty, their talents, and wit should display. What licking, and cleaning, what endless adorning, Not a creature stirr'd out the whole course of the morning; And some of their dresses were barely complete, At the time they were punctually order'd to meet, The Lioness, willing to sanction the rest, With a helmet, and spear, as Britannia was drest; But the Lion, as lord of the banquet, remain'd In the same noble figure that Nature ordain'd; And crouching beside her, with dignified mien, Contributed much to the state of his Queen. The Jackal Lord Chamberlain waited upon her, And two little Lap-dogs as Pages of Honour: While twelve Orang-Outangs were station'd without, To usher the company in, and about. At the hour which his King had thought proper to name, The Horse, as the Hounyhm of Gulliver came; Unaccustomed to "utter the thing that is not," He reach'd, at the moment he promis'd, the spot. The Fox then appear'd on a different scent, On foul depredation, and villainy bent; And the dress of a country attorney he chose, To his purpose best suited, as all the world knows! With looks as impatient, and teeming with sin, The Wolf in Sheep's-clothing was next usher'd in.