Musa Burschicosa A Book of Songs for Students and University Men. By John Stuart Blackie |
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A SONG OF GOOD CONSERVATIVES. |
 | Musa Burschicosa |  |
33
A SONG OF GOOD CONSERVATIVES.
Most bards of women and wine do sing,
But drinking is now out of date,
And women demand a youthful wing;
I sing grave affairs of the State.
Now gentles, attend to my rede!
Though I'm not an M.P., Sir,
Nor likely to be, Sir,
Perhaps from my mint
You may gather a hint
How to shape your political creed!
But drinking is now out of date,
And women demand a youthful wing;
I sing grave affairs of the State.
Now gentles, attend to my rede!
Though I'm not an M.P., Sir,
Nor likely to be, Sir,
Perhaps from my mint
You may gather a hint
How to shape your political creed!
Some men by liberty swear—not I;
The beasts of the forest are free;
The wild tornadoes that sweep the sky;
The tempests that harrow the sea:
But man is a thing more divine;
With reasoned subjection
He makes his election,
And bends with awe
To sovereign Law,
And limits that wisely confine.
The beasts of the forest are free;
The wild tornadoes that sweep the sky;
The tempests that harrow the sea:
But man is a thing more divine;
With reasoned subjection
He makes his election,
And bends with awe
To sovereign Law,
And limits that wisely confine.
34
All men are equal, the Frenchman says;
Most men will gladly receive
What a fervid fool, with a flattering phrase,
Tricks out for fools to believe;
But these men have less brains than a wren!
When a larch is a lily,
And Bessy like Billy
A beard shall achieve,
Then I will believe
That equality reigns among men!
Most men will gladly receive
What a fervid fool, with a flattering phrase,
Tricks out for fools to believe;
But these men have less brains than a wren!
When a larch is a lily,
And Bessy like Billy
A beard shall achieve,
Then I will believe
That equality reigns among men!
All men as brethren our kinship claim;
Fraternity sounds very well;
But if some are brothers whom I could name,
My father keeps lodgings in hell;
And the rent that they pay him is sin.
Such fobbing and jobbing,
Such rapine and robbing,
Such lust and greed,
I surely would need
A long spoon to sup with my kin!
Fraternity sounds very well;
But if some are brothers whom I could name,
My father keeps lodgings in hell;
And the rent that they pay him is sin.
Such fobbing and jobbing,
Such rapine and robbing,
Such lust and greed,
I surely would need
A long spoon to sup with my kin!
Some men to follow the multitude
Deem wise and proper and fair,
And what the majority say is good,
To this for gospel they swear;
But this never was taught in the schools;
Though you whip in the rabble
To bray and to gabble,
Erect I'll stand
For truth in the land,
Alone 'mid a million of fools!
Deem wise and proper and fair,
And what the majority say is good,
To this for gospel they swear;
35
Though you whip in the rabble
To bray and to gabble,
Erect I'll stand
For truth in the land,
Alone 'mid a million of fools!
But if you will follow your witless whim,
And let brainless multitudes sway,
You'll find yourself sitting upon the rim
Of a hot volcano some day;
And with your own hand you'll uncork
A flask of mad revelry,
Falsehood and devilry,
All the poisoned store
Of filth, foam, and gore,
That seethes up from hell in New York!
And let brainless multitudes sway,
You'll find yourself sitting upon the rim
Of a hot volcano some day;
And with your own hand you'll uncork
A flask of mad revelry,
Falsehood and devilry,
All the poisoned store
Of filth, foam, and gore,
That seethes up from hell in New York!
And now I think you will understand
I have not got in my wallet
Any new receipt to remodel the land
By Agrarian law or by ballot.
I stick to old Solomon's rule:
Let the wise lead the foolish,
And whoso is mulish
I'd give him a thwack
With a rod on his back,
For a rod suits the back of the fool!
I have not got in my wallet
Any new receipt to remodel the land
By Agrarian law or by ballot.
I stick to old Solomon's rule:
Let the wise lead the foolish,
And whoso is mulish
36
With a rod on his back,
For a rod suits the back of the fool!
Then long live She who rules the realm,
And God bless all in authority;
And devil take him who would overwhelm
The truth by a brainless majority!
Now you've heard my political creed;
Though I'm not an M.P., Sir,
Nor likely to be, Sir,
Perhaps from my mint
You may gather a hint
How to temper your reasonless speed!
And God bless all in authority;
And devil take him who would overwhelm
The truth by a brainless majority!
Now you've heard my political creed;
Though I'm not an M.P., Sir,
Nor likely to be, Sir,
Perhaps from my mint
You may gather a hint
How to temper your reasonless speed!
| Musa Burschicosa | |