 | Songs and Poems from 1819 to 1879 |  |
101
SONG FROM “BABIL AND BIJOU.”
Oh! not alone in ocean's caves or waters
Monsters are like the fierce octopus found;
Crawling amongst earth's fairest sons and daughters,
Such fiends in human shape, alas! abound,
Out of their dens, the graves of victims strangled,
Their fatal feelers stealthily they stretch;
Once in the deadly grasp of them entangled,
No mortal power can save the sinking wretch!
Monsters are like the fierce octopus found;
Crawling amongst earth's fairest sons and daughters,
Such fiends in human shape, alas! abound,
Out of their dens, the graves of victims strangled,
Their fatal feelers stealthily they stretch;
Once in the deadly grasp of them entangled,
No mortal power can save the sinking wretch!
On the young guardsman, gallant gay, unheeding,
Prodigal heir, or ill-paid, struggling clerk,
Do we not see some vile octopus feeding
Sixty per cent. above high water mark?
Upon the turf, or at the gaming table
(Neither so green as those who bet or play)
In rich saloons, the ring, or e'en the stable
Is no octopus watching for his prey!
Prodigal heir, or ill-paid, struggling clerk,
Do we not see some vile octopus feeding
Sixty per cent. above high water mark?
Upon the turf, or at the gaming table
(Neither so green as those who bet or play)
In rich saloons, the ring, or e'en the stable
Is no octopus watching for his prey!
102
Are there not beings with fair female faces,
Bearing unfortunately woman's name,
Who daily down within their cursed embraces
Drag fools from honour, duty, fortune, fame!
Cold, cruel, calculating, and rapacious,
Drawing the life blood, picking the bones bare,
And flaunting with effrontery audacious
Over the skeletons of men that were!
Bearing unfortunately woman's name,
Who daily down within their cursed embraces
Drag fools from honour, duty, fortune, fame!
Cold, cruel, calculating, and rapacious,
Drawing the life blood, picking the bones bare,
And flaunting with effrontery audacious
Over the skeletons of men that were!
Poor eight-limbed wonder of man's vain aquarium!
What are thy deeds to those on earth we view?
In the deep sea, or in its mock scenarium,
Thou doest but what instinct bids thee do.
Ah! thoughtless youth, in life's bright early morning,
Eager to plunge headlong in folly's fair,
Take, from the lips of age, a friendly warning—
Of the octopus lurking there, beware!
What are thy deeds to those on earth we view?
In the deep sea, or in its mock scenarium,
Thou doest but what instinct bids thee do.
Ah! thoughtless youth, in life's bright early morning,
Eager to plunge headlong in folly's fair,
Take, from the lips of age, a friendly warning—
Of the octopus lurking there, beware!
| Songs and Poems from 1819 to 1879 | |