Signor Topsy-Turvy's wonderful magic lantern or The World turned upside down. By the author of "My Mother," and other poems [Ann and Jane Taylor]. Illustrated with twenty-four engravings |
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INTRODUCTION.
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 | Signor Topsy-Turvy's wonderful magic lantern |  |
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INTRODUCTION.
I can't tell the story for truth, but 'tis said,
That the first Magic Lantern that ever was made,
Perplex'd the inventor extremely;
For houses, and people, and all that he shew'd,
In spite of his efforts, could only be view'd
Upside down, which was very unseemly!
That the first Magic Lantern that ever was made,
Perplex'd the inventor extremely;
For houses, and people, and all that he shew'd,
In spite of his efforts, could only be view'd
Upside down, which was very unseemly!
At length out of patience, and quite in despair,
He thought the best way to pass off the affair,
Was to bring it at once to a sequel;
He therefore gave out he'd invented a shew,
So wonderful, magical, comic, and new,
As nothing in nature could equal.
He thought the best way to pass off the affair,
Was to bring it at once to a sequel;
He therefore gave out he'd invented a shew,
So wonderful, magical, comic, and new,
As nothing in nature could equal.
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The nobility, gentry, and public at large,
With alacrity paid the philosopher's charge,
And throng'd to his rare exhibition;
And nought could exceed the huzzas and encores,
As houses, and horses, and people, and doors,
With their feet in the air, and their heads on the floor,
Past by,—'twas so droll a position!
With alacrity paid the philosopher's charge,
And throng'd to his rare exhibition;
And nought could exceed the huzzas and encores,
As houses, and horses, and people, and doors,
With their feet in the air, and their heads on the floor,
Past by,—'twas so droll a position!
They said it was such an original thought,
That people of rank and intelligence, ought
To give it their full approbation;
So ladies and lords to the scholar repair'd,
And as the procession proceeded, declar'd,
It really surpass'd expectation!
That people of rank and intelligence, ought
To give it their full approbation;
So ladies and lords to the scholar repair'd,
And as the procession proceeded, declar'd,
It really surpass'd expectation!
At length a shrewd fellow from college that came,
Who envied, 'twas said, the philosopher's fame,
(As cross and conceited as could be),
Stole up to the sliders, and turning them round,
To the company's grief and dismay it was found,
That now, they were seen as they should be!
Who envied, 'twas said, the philosopher's fame,
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Stole up to the sliders, and turning them round,
To the company's grief and dismay it was found,
That now, they were seen as they should be!
The tumult was dreadful,—the gentlemen rose,
And said they would see upside down, if they chose,
They came with no other intention;
And begg'd that, upon a philosopher's word,
He would not let any one be so absurd
Again, as to spoil his invention.
And said they would see upside down, if they chose,
They came with no other intention;
And begg'd that, upon a philosopher's word,
He would not let any one be so absurd
Again, as to spoil his invention.
Now lest there may still be some pedant in town,
To laugh at this turning the world upside down,
With argument witty and weighty,
We've taken the trouble, at wonderful cost,
To copy the sliders (long thought to be lost),
And appeal to the whole literati.
To laugh at this turning the world upside down,
With argument witty and weighty,
We've taken the trouble, at wonderful cost,
To copy the sliders (long thought to be lost),
And appeal to the whole literati.
A.
| Signor Topsy-Turvy's wonderful magic lantern | |