 | Harlequin And The House That Jack Built ; Or, Old Mother Hubbard, And Her Wonderful Dog |  |
The Domicile Erected by John.
[Being a poetic paraphrase of the ancient nursery legend, for the use of the rising generation, who might consider the simplicity of the original beneath them.]
Behold the mansion swift upreared for Jack!
See the malt stored in many an ample sack.
Mark how the rat's felonious fangs invade
The golden stores in John's pavilion laid.
See how, with velvet foot and noiseless strides,
Subtle grimalkin to his quarry glides;
Grimalkin grim, that slew the fierce rodent,
Whose tooth insidious Johann's sackcloth rent.
Lo! now the deep-mouthed canine foe's assault,
That vexed the avenger of the stolen malt,
Stored in the hallowed precincts of that hall,
That rose complete at Jack's creative call.
See the malt stored in many an ample sack.
Mark how the rat's felonious fangs invade
The golden stores in John's pavilion laid.
See how, with velvet foot and noiseless strides,
Subtle grimalkin to his quarry glides;
Grimalkin grim, that slew the fierce rodent,
Whose tooth insidious Johann's sackcloth rent.
Lo! now the deep-mouthed canine foe's assault,
That vexed the avenger of the stolen malt,
Stored in the hallowed precincts of that hall,
That rose complete at Jack's creative call.
Now stalks the impetuous cow, with crumpled horn,
Whereon the exacerbating hound was torn,
Who bayed the feline slaughtered beast that slew
The rat predaceous, whose keen fangs ran through
The textile fibres that involved the grain,
That lay in John's inviolate domain.
Whereon the exacerbating hound was torn,
Who bayed the feline slaughtered beast that slew
The rat predaceous, whose keen fangs ran through
The textile fibres that involved the grain,
That lay in John's inviolate domain.
Behold the damsel, all forlorn, who drew
Lactiferous spoils, in meadows pearled with dew,
From that corniculate beast, whose tortuous horn
Tossed to the clouds, in fierce vindictive scorn,
The braying hound, whose braggart bark and stir,
Arched the lithe spine, and reared the indignant fur
Of puss, that, with verminicidal claw,
Struck the scared rat, in whose insatiate maw,
Lay reeking malt that erst in Johann's home we saw.
Lactiferous spoils, in meadows pearled with dew,
From that corniculate beast, whose tortuous horn
Tossed to the clouds, in fierce vindictive scorn,
The braying hound, whose braggart bark and stir,
Arched the lithe spine, and reared the indignant fur
Of puss, that, with verminicidal claw,
Struck the scared rat, in whose insatiate maw,
Lay reeking malt that erst in Johann's home we saw.
Robed in a garb whose fabric seemed, in sooth,
To show deep dents from Time's corroding tooth,
Behold the man whose loving lips incline
To meet the lips, in colour coralline,
Of that lorn maiden, whose experienced hands
Drew albulactic wealth from lacteal glands
Of that immortal bovine, by whose horn,
Distort to realms ethereal was borne
The frisking, whisking worrier of that sly,
Soft-footed quadruped, who caused to die
The old mordaceous rat, that dared devour
Antecedaneous ale in John's domestic bower.
To show deep dents from Time's corroding tooth,
Behold the man whose loving lips incline
To meet the lips, in colour coralline,
Of that lorn maiden, whose experienced hands
Drew albulactic wealth from lacteal glands
Of that immortal bovine, by whose horn,
Distort to realms ethereal was borne
The frisking, whisking worrier of that sly,
Soft-footed quadruped, who caused to die
4
Antecedaneous ale in John's domestic bower.
And now, with hirsute honours doff'd, succinct
Of saponaceous locks, the priest, who linked
In Hymen's golden bands the man unthrift,
Whose means exiguous stared from many a rift,
E'en as he kissed the virgin, all forlorn,
Who milked the cow with complicated horn,
Who, in fierce wrath, the canine torturer skied,
That dared to vex the insidious muricide,
That through the hide let rays of daylight fly,
Of that rash rat that robbed John's granary.
Of saponaceous locks, the priest, who linked
In Hymen's golden bands the man unthrift,
Whose means exiguous stared from many a rift,
E'en as he kissed the virgin, all forlorn,
Who milked the cow with complicated horn,
Who, in fierce wrath, the canine torturer skied,
That dared to vex the insidious muricide,
That through the hide let rays of daylight fly,
Of that rash rat that robbed John's granary.
The loud cantankerous bantam comes at last,
Whose shouts aroused the shorn ecelesiast,
Who sealed the vows of Hymen for the man,
Whose time-worn garments all to seed had ran,
But kissed the damsel who, at early morn,
Had milked the cow that had the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog, that vexed the cat, that kilt
The rat, that ate the malt, in House that Jack had built.
Whose shouts aroused the shorn ecelesiast,
Who sealed the vows of Hymen for the man,
Whose time-worn garments all to seed had ran,
But kissed the damsel who, at early morn,
Had milked the cow that had the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog, that vexed the cat, that kilt
The rat, that ate the malt, in House that Jack had built.
| Harlequin And The House That Jack Built ; Or, Old Mother Hubbard, And Her Wonderful Dog | |