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Article HOW ALFRED TIPTOP WON THE PRIZE POEM ← Page 11 of 12 →
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How Alfred Tiptop Won The Prize Poem
to that tall , handsome young man , who , in faultless white tie and black evening dress , stands , not nervously ( for that Avas one of Alfred Tiptop ' s very last failings ) , in the little pulpit opposite , with his prompter , the wicked De Boots , who circulated that wicked report about his poetical tastes , but who , till a day or two since , neA er knew how near the truth he was .
To be sure , Alfred Avas always rather a " budding Chatham , " and his speeches , whether on the non-admission of clogs , or the Cuba question , had always been voted capital . But to-day he outshone himself—velut inter ignes tuna minores . Clear and audible , every word told ; and Avhen some tAvo thousand hands met in applause at the end , Ave fear that poor Leila's were more busied Avith her pocket-handkerchief , —that everlasting resource ( as Mr . Thackeray holds ) of our dear little British females , under all excitement soever .
Commemoration is over , but there is plenty more to be done . There is that grand party given by the senior proctor , where Leila is to shine as the prettiest girl ( so somebody thinks ) who ever graced Oxford with her presence . Before that there is the flower-show in those lovely gardens , at the jolly , but rather lazy college , which fronts all sorts of trees , and " no end " of river .
It is our private opinion that flower-shoAvs in Oxford are a deception , —a simple excuse for contemplating English beauty of a different kind under false pretences . What do I care about pressing into an already hot-pressed tent , to look at exaggerated tulips stuck into tin tubes ; or to compare the relative size of Lady Marrowfat ' s geraniumsand Sir Giles Horsepond ' s m-
, ag nolias ? They come , happily , every day in the season ; but Commemoration , Avith its bevy of lovely girls , but once in the year , and that seldom with the glories with which we always associate what is present . So we Avalk about , occasionally patronizing the Coldstream or the Thame band , and condescending to inform an inquirer
as to the overture to Le Pres aux Clercs , or Roberto toi que j ' aime . But it is of no use , despite our almost pro-proctorial dignity , as M . A . ' s of the first water , we are too busy with the ladies we have got with us , or with those whom other people have got . Chat , chat , chat , occasionally hoaxing our pretty listeners with some detail of Oxford lifenot generallknown
, y to Oxford men , —suddenly" recognising or being recognised by some hitherto unperceived acquaintance , —Ave Avalk along the soft turf , Avondering why Oxford never looks so lovely , and why Alma Mater does not treat her boys to a feAV more such days in her heavy , same-faced career through the year . To say hoAv , on this occasion , the gardens looked like a
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
How Alfred Tiptop Won The Prize Poem
to that tall , handsome young man , who , in faultless white tie and black evening dress , stands , not nervously ( for that Avas one of Alfred Tiptop ' s very last failings ) , in the little pulpit opposite , with his prompter , the wicked De Boots , who circulated that wicked report about his poetical tastes , but who , till a day or two since , neA er knew how near the truth he was .
To be sure , Alfred Avas always rather a " budding Chatham , " and his speeches , whether on the non-admission of clogs , or the Cuba question , had always been voted capital . But to-day he outshone himself—velut inter ignes tuna minores . Clear and audible , every word told ; and Avhen some tAvo thousand hands met in applause at the end , Ave fear that poor Leila's were more busied Avith her pocket-handkerchief , —that everlasting resource ( as Mr . Thackeray holds ) of our dear little British females , under all excitement soever .
Commemoration is over , but there is plenty more to be done . There is that grand party given by the senior proctor , where Leila is to shine as the prettiest girl ( so somebody thinks ) who ever graced Oxford with her presence . Before that there is the flower-show in those lovely gardens , at the jolly , but rather lazy college , which fronts all sorts of trees , and " no end " of river .
It is our private opinion that flower-shoAvs in Oxford are a deception , —a simple excuse for contemplating English beauty of a different kind under false pretences . What do I care about pressing into an already hot-pressed tent , to look at exaggerated tulips stuck into tin tubes ; or to compare the relative size of Lady Marrowfat ' s geraniumsand Sir Giles Horsepond ' s m-
, ag nolias ? They come , happily , every day in the season ; but Commemoration , Avith its bevy of lovely girls , but once in the year , and that seldom with the glories with which we always associate what is present . So we Avalk about , occasionally patronizing the Coldstream or the Thame band , and condescending to inform an inquirer
as to the overture to Le Pres aux Clercs , or Roberto toi que j ' aime . But it is of no use , despite our almost pro-proctorial dignity , as M . A . ' s of the first water , we are too busy with the ladies we have got with us , or with those whom other people have got . Chat , chat , chat , occasionally hoaxing our pretty listeners with some detail of Oxford lifenot generallknown
, y to Oxford men , —suddenly" recognising or being recognised by some hitherto unperceived acquaintance , —Ave Avalk along the soft turf , Avondering why Oxford never looks so lovely , and why Alma Mater does not treat her boys to a feAV more such days in her heavy , same-faced career through the year . To say hoAv , on this occasion , the gardens looked like a