The Glugs of Gosh | Page 4

King said, "Haw!" and the Queen said, "Oh!
Our
drawing-room now is a heavenly show
Of large overmantels, and whatnots, and chairs,
And a statue of
Splosh at the head of the stairs!"
But a Glug stood up with a cast in
his eye,
And he said, "Far too many baubles we buy;
With all the Gosh factories closing their doors,
And importers'
warehouses lining our shores."
But the Glugs cried, "Down with such
meddlesome fools!
What did our grandpas lay down in their rules?"
And the Knight, Sir Stodge, he opened his Book:
"To Cheapness," he
said, "was the road they took."
Then every Glug who was not too fat

Turned seventeen handsprings, and jumped on his hat.
They fined the Glug with the cast in his eye
For looking both
ways--which he did not deny--
And for having no visible precedent,

which
Is a crime in the poor and a fault in the rich.
So the Glugs continued, with greed and glee,
To buy cheap clothing,
and pills, and tea;
Till every Glug in the land of Gosh
Owned three clean shirts and a
fourth in the wash.
But they all grew idle, and fond of ease,
And
easy to swindle, and hard to please;
And the voice of Joi was a lonely voice,
When he railed at Gosh for
its foolish choice.
But the great King grinned, and the good Queen
gushed,
As the goods of the Ogs were madly rushed.
And the Knight, Sir Stodge, with a wave of his hand,
Declared it a
happy and prosperous land.
IV. SYM, THE SON OF JOI
Now Joi, the rebel, he had a son
In far, far Gosh where the tall trees
wave.
Said Joi: "In Gosh there shall yet be one
To scorn this life of
a self-made slave;
To spurn the law of the Knight, Sir Stodge,
And
end the rule of the great King Splosh;
Who shall warn the Glugs of
their crafty dodge,
And at last bring peace, sweet peace, to Gosh."
Said he: "Whenever the kind sun showers
His golden treasure on
grateful flowers,
With upturned faces and hearts bowed low,
The
Glugs shall know what the wild things know."
Said he: "Wherever
the broad fields smile,
They shall walk with clean minds, free of guile;

They shall scoff aloud at the call of Greed,
And turn to their
labours and never heed."
So Joi had a son, and his name was Sym;
And his eyes were wide as
the eyes of Truth;
And there came to the wondering mind of him
Long thoughts of the riddle that vexes youth.
And, "Father," he said,
"in the mart's loud din

Is there aught of pleasure? Do some find joy?"
But his father tilted
the beardless chin,
And looked in the eyes of the questing boy.
Said he: "Whenever the fields are green,
Lie still, where the wild rose
fashions a screen,
While the brown thrush calls to his love-wise mate,
And know what
they profit who trade with Hate."
Said he: "Whenever the great skies
spread,
In the beckoning vastness overhead,
A tent for the blue wren building a nest,
Then, down in the heart of
you, learn what's best."
And there came to Sym as he walked afield
Deep thoughts of the world and the folk of Gosh.
He saw the idols to
which they kneeled;
He marked them cringe to the name of Splosli.
Is it meet," he asked,
"that a soul should crawl
To a purple robe or a gilded chair?"
But his father walked to the
garden's wall
And stooped to a rose-bush flowering there.
Said he: "Whenever a bursting bloom
Looks up to the sun, may a soul
find room
For a measure of awe at the wondrous birth
Of one more
treasure to this glad earth."
Said he: "Whenever a dewdrop clings

To a gossamer thread, and glitters and swings,
Deep in humility bow
your head
To a thing for a blundering rnortal's dread."
And there came to Sym in his later youth,
With the first clear glance
in the face of guile,
Thirst for knowledge and thoughts of truth,
Of

gilded baubles, and things worth while.
And he said, "There is much
that a Glug should know;
But his mind is clouded, his years are few."

Then joi, the father, he answered low
As his thoughts ran back to
the youth he knew.
Said he: "Whenever the West wind stirs,
And birds in feathers and
beasts in furs
Steal out to dance in the glade, lie still:
Let your heart
teach you what it will."
Said he: "Whenever the moonlight creeps

Thro' inlaced boughs, a'nd a shy star peeps
Adown from its crib in the
cradling sky,
Know of their folly who fear to die."
New interest came to the mind of Sym,
As 'midst his fellows he lived
and toiled.
But the ways of the Glug folk puzzled him;
For some
won honour, while some were foiled;
Yet all were filled with a vague
unrest
As they climbed their trees in an endless search.
But joi, the
father, he mocked their quest,
When he marked a Glug on his
hard-won perch.
Said he: "Whenever these tales are heard
Of the Feasible Dog or the
Guffer