The Humourous Poetry of the English Language

502
With mind lithe as the limbs
Of ISHMAEL'S sons, his swart progenitors--
With tongue sharp as the spear
That o'er Sahara
Flings the blue shadow
Of the crown of ostrich feathers--
As described so graphically
By LAYARD, in his recent book
On Nineveh!
With tongue as sharp
As aspic's tooth of NILUS,
Or sugary
Upon the occasion
As is the date
Of TAFILAT.
DIZZY, the bounding Arab
Of the political arena--
As swift to whirl
Right about face--
As strong to leap
From premise to conclusion--
As great in balancing
A budget--
Or flinging headlong
His somersets
Over sharp swords of adverse facts,
As were his brethren of EL-ARISH,
Who
Some years ago exhibited--
With rapturous applause--
At Astley's Amphitheater--
And subsequently
At Vauxhall Gardens!
* * * * *
Clustering, front and back
On box and knife-board,
See, petty man;
Behold! and thank thy stars
That led thee--Worm--
THEE, that art merely a writer
And a barrister,