'Mrs Masters as Hebe'

An eagle meekly drinks at Hebe's hand.
No hint is given by Sir Joshua
Of what old Lemprière called 'the indecent posture'
That cost her the job of cupbearer to the gods.
Mad Blake might well have found significant
So tame a representation. But who can censure
Art for its leniency vis-à-vis
A girl with power to rejuvenate
Not merely the avian and divine but men?

Programme Notes

However silly, Swan Lake after all
Is a masterwork, not least the obvious
Idealization of the animal.
Good period, in which there throve an art
Where ballocks and baby swans were pulchritudinous.
...