Sing, little bird! 't will soon be night.

1874.




DOROTHY Q.

A FAMILY PORTRAIT

I cannot tell the story of Dorothy Q. more simply in prose than I have
told it in verse, but I can add something to it. Dorothy was the daughter
of Judge Edmund Quincy, and the niece of Josiah Quincy, junior, the young
patriot and orator who died just before the American Revolution, of which
he was one of the most eloquent and effective promoters. The son of the
latter, Josiah Quincy, the first mayor of Boston bearing that name, lived
to a great age, one of the most useful and honored citizens of his time.
The canvas of the painting was so much decayed that it had to be replaced
by a new one, in doing which the rapier thrust was of course filled up.

GRANDMOTHER'S mother: her age, I guess,
Thirteen summers, or something less;
Girlish bust, but womanly air;
Smooth, square forehead with uprolled hair;
Lips that lover has never kissed;
Taper fingers and slender wrist;
Hanging sleeves of stiff brocade;
So they painted the little maid.