Matin Bells and Scarlet and Gold :: :: University of Virginia Library

I must now introduce you to “Gentleman” Frank
With his gaiters,
Though he was once equal to rank
In extraction and place, my young lord, with your pater's;
He has grimly come down
From the cake of the Classes,
To wallow and drown
In the mud of the Masses;
For he erst knew refinement and lay in the lap
Of life second to none,
If he now lies foredone
And the prey of that Moloch the terrible Tap.

I have infinite pity for “Gentleman” Frank
And his troubles,
Though ages have passed since he sank
To this beggarly lot which remorse only doubles;
He is son of a Peer
And was cradled in satin,
And when maudlin with beer
He will hiccough in Latin;
In his crapulous talk though his glory has set,
In his stertorous haste
With his arm round a waist,
He is not like the others—he cannot forget.

His companions at heart respect “Gentleman” Frank
And his tumble,
Though he has himself but to thank
That he sticks to the street and his station is humble;

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He had fortune and health
And the best of all chances,
But threw away wealth
And a life like romances;
He kept sinking and sinking as if he must drown,
If arising with pain
Just to sink once again;
But it's over at last for his lot—he keeps down.

He's a gentleman still this poor “Gentleman” Frank
In the gutter,
If future days to him are blank
And his past is a blot and his bread has no butter;
For he carries with him
His nobility's patent,
And though it be dim
It is never quite latent;
That indelible stamp of the breeding and birth
Never dies out in man,
And the delicate plan
Can't be smothered in drink and the dregs of the earth.