A Flight of Fancies :: :: University of Virginia Library

If I had time to play with you
In your imaginary Zoo,
My bonny Treasure,
I'd imitate a flopping seal,
Or utter a baboony squeal,
At once with pleasure.

But I was caught from nine till six
In London's trap of fog and bricks
And furious fusses.
I bounded swiftly, like an ape,
From street to gutter, to escape
The omnibuses.

I'm far more tired than I can tell
Of all the complicated smell,
Pianos, taverns,
The crowd of frocked and trousered moles
That fill, as ants their smaller holes,
Electric caverns.

St Paul may have a splendid dome,
Yet what is that compared with home

And Mother's laughter,
And pansies in a bowl, and you
(Forgetful of a kangaroo),
And bedtime after?

Excuse me if I cannot feel
A wish to represent a seal
With movements floppy.
I love the creature's clever mind,
But, in its way of walking, find
It hard to copy.

To-morrow I will try to be
A buffalo or chimpanzee,
Or such a leopard
As, forced by several appetites,
Is just as happy if he bites
A sheep or shepherd.

But now I want to hear you read
Those verses telling how a weed
Besought a Fairy
To change her to a hedgeside rose,
That Love might stand upon his toes
To kiss her, Mary.