 | A Flight of Fancies |  |
104
THE PASSIVE RESISTER
I've told you twice already that I haven't time to be,
Among the hazels in the wood, a chattering chimpanzee;
And yet you come and knock and cough and sigh at half-past four,
And push a begging-letter underneath the study door.
Among the hazels in the wood, a chattering chimpanzee;
And yet you come and knock and cough and sigh at half-past four,
And push a begging-letter underneath the study door.
When Uncles grow a little bald, as well as stiff and tame,
Babooning wildly in a wood is not the sort of game
They choose for recreation when they hurry from the den
In which they earn their bread and cheese by scratching with a pen.
Babooning wildly in a wood is not the sort of game
They choose for recreation when they hurry from the den
In which they earn their bread and cheese by scratching with a pen.
You children always seem to think that if the day is fine
Your Uncle instantly desires to be a porcupine;
Or else, amid the rushes of the brook you call the Nile,
To imitate as best he can six yards of crocodile.
Your Uncle instantly desires to be a porcupine;
105
To imitate as best he can six yards of crocodile.
It's true I've been a rattlesnake; it's true I've been a bear;
It's true I've been a tiger in a very awkward lair,
With coat and trousers coloured brown, although a little pale,
And several feet of rope behind, to represent a tail;
It's true I've been a tiger in a very awkward lair,
With coat and trousers coloured brown, although a little pale,
And several feet of rope behind, to represent a tail;
But, Letty, there are afternoons when, feeling old and slow,
I wouldn't act for half-a-crown the breathless buffalo,
With paper horns upon my head, while furious Cherokees
Surround me in a forest glade and pepper me with peas.
I wouldn't act for half-a-crown the breathless buffalo,
With paper horns upon my head, while furious Cherokees
Surround me in a forest glade and pepper me with peas.
I'm working, breading, cheesing hard. I haven't time to play,
So kiss me through the keyhole, Love, before you run away
To recommend the Bouncing Wolf and dewy Prairie Plant
To listen in the wigwam to their story-telling Aunt.
So kiss me through the keyhole, Love, before you run away
To recommend the Bouncing Wolf and dewy Prairie Plant
To listen in the wigwam to their story-telling Aunt.
| A Flight of Fancies | |