 | Pleasant Odes |  |
19
Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.
I.
My dear Sir H. C.-B.,—
When I behold you
Trailing clouds of glory
And fumbling for the next sentence,
Or reading epigrams off a piece of paper,
Or keeping up the Front-bench tradition
With the assistance of a little Latin,
Th' unbidden tear
Shines softly in both mine eyes—
It does, really!
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II.
To be a leader of menIs (as you will admit, my dear Sir Henry)
To be more or less great:
On the other hand,
To be the leader of a party,
Especially when there is no particular party to lead,
Is (as you will admit, my dear Sir Henry)
To be more or less distinguished—
It is, really!
21
III.
But speaking for myself,If I were leading a party
(Even if it were only an excursion party),
And it contained so many inharmonious elements
As does your party,
I'm hanged if I would lead it—
I am, really!
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IV.
That you should persist,That you should sit assiduously in your place,
Patient, pathetic, uncomplaining,
What time your nearest and dearest friends and supporters
Give your position away to a winking Ministry,
Speaks volumes for your sense of duty,
Your sense of patriotism,
Your sense of the sacrifices demanded from a successor of Gladstone, Palmerston, Peel, and the rest,
Your extraordinary capacity for balancing yourself on the boniest of fences:
(And your fence is a bony one, if ever a fence was bony—
It is, really!)
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V.
O, my dear Sir Henry,Nobody has greater respect for you than I have,
Nobody sympathises with you more than I do,
Nobody wishes you better wishes!
Will you be advised?
Will you let me counsel you?—
I will do it free of charge;
And if you ever get a set of hints finer than the following,
I should be much obliged if you would communicate with me—
I should, really!
24
VI.
Here you are:Hint No. 1. Come off that fence!
Hint No. 2. If the party don't like it, never mind!
Hint No. 3. — . . .
On second thoughts, you had better send me the usual penny stamp, on receipt of which, I will forward you the balance of my superior hints by parcel post,
I will, really!
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