Moral Emblems | Page 3

beside the
mountain brook;
'Tis over; now with rising hope
They pause upon
the downward slope,
And as their aching bones they rest,
Their
anxious captain scans the west.
So paused Alaric on the Alps
And ciphered up the Roman scalps.
Poem: V--THE FOOLHARDY GEOGRAPHER
The howling desert miles around,
The tinkling brook the only sound -

Wearied with all his toils and feats,
The traveller dines on potted
meats;
On potted meats and princely wines,
Not wisely but too well
he dines.
The brindled Tiger loud may roar,
High may the hovering Vulture
soar;
Alas! regardless of them all,
Soon shall the empurpled glutton
sprawl -
Soon, in the desert's hushed repose,
Shall trumpet tidings
through his nose!
Alack, unwise! that nasal song
Shall be the
Ounce's dinner-gong!
A blemish in the cut appears;
Alas! it cost both blood and tears.
The
glancing graver swerved aside,
Fast flowed the artist's vital tide!

And now the apologetic bard
Demands indulgence for his pard!
Poem: VI--THE ANGLER AND THE CLOWN
The echoing bridge you here may see,
The pouring lynn, the waving
tree,
The eager angler fresh from town -
Above, the contumelious
clown.
The angler plies his line and rod,
The clodpole stands with
many a nod, -
With many a nod and many a grin,
He sees him cast
his engine in.
'What have you caught?' the peasant cries.
'Nothing as yet,' the Fool replies.

MORAL TALES
Poem: I--ROBIN AND BEN: OR, THE PIRATE AND THE
APOTHECARY
Come, lend me an attentive ear
A startling moral tale to hear,
Of
Pirate Rob and Chemist Ben,
And different destinies of men.
Deep in the greenest of the vales
That nestle near the coast of Wales,

The heaving main but just in view,
Robin and Ben together grew,

Together worked and played the fool,
Together shunned the
Sunday school,
And pulled each other's youthful noses
Around the
cots, among the roses.
Together but unlike they grew;
Robin was rough, and through and
through
Bold, inconsiderate, and manly,
Like some historic Bruce
or Stanley.
Ben had a mean and servile soul,
He robbed not, though
he often stole.
He sang on Sunday in the choir,
And tamely capped
the passing Squire.
At length, intolerant of trammels -
Wild as the wild Bithynian camels,

Wild as the wild sea-eagles--Bob
His widowed dam contrives to
rob,
And thus with great originality
Effectuates his personality.

Thenceforth his terror-haunted flight
He follows through the starry
night;
And with the early morning breeze,
Behold him on the azure
seas.
The master of a trading dandy
Hires Robin for a go of brandy;

And all the happy hills of home
Vanish beyond the fields of foam.
Ben, meanwhile, like a tin reflector,
Attended on the worthy rector;

Opened his eyes and held his breath,
And flattered to the point of
death;
And was at last, by that good fairy,
Apprenticed to the
Apothecary.
So Ben, while Robin chose to roam,
A rising chemist was at home,

Tended his shop with learned air,
Watered his drugs and oiled his hair,


And gave advice to the unwary,
Like any sleek apothecary.
Meanwhile upon the deep afar
Robin the brave was waging war,

With other tarry desperadoes
About the latitude of Barbadoes.
He
knew no touch of craven fear;
His voice was thunder in the cheer;

First, from the main-to'-gallan' high,
The skulking merchantmen to
spy -
The first to bound upon the deck,
The last to leave the sinking
wreck.
His hand was steel, his word was law,
His mates regarded
him with awe.
No pirate in the whole profession
Held a more
honourable position.
At length, from years of anxious toil,
Bold Robin seeks his native soil;

Wisely arranges his affairs,
And to his native dale repairs.
The
Bristol SWALLOW sets him down
Beside the well-remembered
town.
He sighs, he spits, he marks the scene,
Proudly he treads the
village green;
And, free from pettiness and rancour,
Takes lodgings
at the 'Crown and Anchor.'
Strange, when a man so great and good
Once more in his
home-country stood,
Strange that the sordid clowns should show
A
dull desire to have him go.
His clinging breeks, his tarry hat,
The way he swore, the way he spat,

A certain quality of manner,
Alarming like the pirate's banner -

Something that did not seem to suit all -
Something, O call it bluff,
not brutal -
Something at least, howe'er it's called,
Made Robin
generally black-balled.
His soul was wounded; proud and glum,
Alone he sat and swigged
his rum,
And took a great distaste to men
Till he encountered
Chemist Ben.
Bright was the hour and bright the day
That threw
them in each other's way;
Glad were their mutual salutations,

Long
their respective revelations.
Before the inn in sultry weather
They
talked of this and that together;
Ben told the tale of his indentures,


And Rob narrated his adventures.
Last, as the point of greatest weight,
The pair contrasted their estate,

And Robin, like a boastful sailor,
Despised the other for a tailor.
'See,' he remarked, 'with envy, see
A man with such a fist as me!

Bearded and ringed, and big, and brown,
I sit and toss the stingo
down.
Hear the gold jingle in my bag -
All won beneath the Jolly
Flag!'
Ben moralised and shook his head:
'You wanderers earn and eat your
bread.
The foe is found, beats or is beaten,
And, either how, the
wage is eaten.
And after all your pully-hauly
Your proceeds look
uncommon small-ly.
You had done