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Belloc: Ballade of Genuine Concern
BALLADE OF GENUINE CONCERN
A child at Brighton has been left to drown;
A railway train has jumped the line at Crewe;
I haven't got the change for half a crown;
I can't imagine what on earth to do...
Three bisons have stampeded from the Zoo,
. A German fleet has anchored in the Clyde;
By God the wretched country's up the flue!
—The ice is breaking up on every side.
What! Further news? Rhodesian stocks are down?
England, my England, can the news be true?
Cannot the Duke be got to come to town?
Or will not Mr Hooper pull us through?
And now the Bank is stopping payment, too,
The chief cashier has cut his throat and died,
And Scotland Yard has failed to find a clue:
—The ice is breaking up on every side.
A raging mob inflamed by Charley Brown
Is tearing up the rails at Waterloo;
They've hanged the Chancellor in wig and gown,
The Speaker, and the Chief Inspector, too!
Police! Police! Is this the road to Kew?
I can't keep up: my garter's come untied:
I shall be murdered by the savage crew.
—The ice is breaking up on every side.
Envoi
Prince of the Empire, Prince of Timbuctoo,
Prince eight feet round and nearly four feet wide,
Do try to run a little faster, do—
—The ice is breaking up on every side.
HILAIRE BELLOC
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