 | The masquerade and other poems |  |
iii
DEDICATION. TO HON. ISAAC F. REDFIELD, LL. D. (LATE CHIEF JUSTICE OF VERMONT.)
iv
Albany, N. Y., 1866.
212
THE MERRY MONARCH.
(Imitated from Béranger's “Le Roi d'Yvetot.”)
I.
In Normandy there reigned a king,(I 've quite forgot his name,)
Who led a jolly sort of life,
And did n't care for fame.
A nightcap was his crown of state,
Which Jenny placed upon his pate:
Ha! ha!—laugh and sing:
O was n't he a funny king?
II.
He ate his meals, like other folk,Slept soundly and secure,
213
He made his royal tour;
A little dog—it was his whim—
Was body-guard enough for him:
Ha! ha!—laugh and sing:
O was n't he a funny king?
III.
A single foible he confessed,—A tendency to drink;
But kings who heed their subjects' need,
Should mind their own, I think;
And thus it was his tax he got,—
For every cask an extra pot:
Ha! ha!—laugh and sing:
O was n't he a funny king?
IV.
The lasses loved this worthy king;And many a merry youth
214
And often spoke the truth.
He viewed his troops in goodly ranks,
But still their cartridges were blanks.
Ha! ha!—laugh and sing:
O was n't he a funny king?
V.
He never stole his neighbors' landTo magnify his realm;
But steered his little ship of state
With honor at the helm;
And when at last the king was dead,
No wonder all the people said:—
“Ah! ah!—weep and sing:
O was n't he a noble king?”
| The masquerade and other poems | |