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Byron and Landor: Epigrams
EPIGRAM ON JOHN BULL
The world is a bundle of hay,
Mankind are the asses who pull;
Each tugs it a different way,
And the greatest of all is John Bull.
GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON
IRELAND NEVER WAS CONTENTED
Ireland never was contented.
Say you so? You are demented.
Ireland was contented when
All could use the sword and pen,
And when Tara rose so high
That her turrets split the sky,
And about her courts were seen
Liveried angels robed in green,
Wearing, by St Patrick's bounty,
Emeralds big as half the county.
ON THE FOUR GEORGES
w. s. LANDOR
George the First was always reckon'd
Vile—but viler George the Second;
And what mortal ever heard
Any good of George the Third?
When from earth the Fourth descended,
God be praised, the Georges ended.
128
w. s. LANDOR