 | Handsome Is That Handsome Does |  |
III.
The Crier.Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!
I am the General Crier,
And my vocation is to give a voice
To the general feeling of the public.
The general feeling of the public
On the present occasion,—
Its feelings or sentiments,—
Are that certain recent events
Demand an explanation—
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And in others I do not,
And then, again, I sometimes mingle rhymes and not-rhymes together
Just as I choose,
Which is not, perhaps, so easy as it looks,
Though by your smiles you seem to say you think it is),—
I say, the general feeling of the public
Is that certain recent transactions
In which Young Shyface
And Little Sweet Heart
Have been concerned,
And which I need not relate in full, because they are no doubt familiar to most of the persons present—
The Mob.
Yes, yes!
The Crier.
That these transactions,
Which I have not related,
Would be better understood
If they were elucidated.
The Mob.
That is good, capital, very good!
The Crier.
I have only to add
That if any qualified person—
Or, indeed, any unqualified person,
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Thinks he can explain these transactions
He may.
On the other hand he may keep his opinion to himself:
This being a free country.
Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!
Professor Dumps
(gloomily).
Ladies and gentlemen, I can
Explain it all; I am the man!
You know me; and, as you conjecture,
I do propose this night to lecture
At the Town-Hall on these events;
When various experiments
Will be performed, with Laughing Gas!
The Mob.
Hurrah!
The Crier.
Oh yes, oh yes, oh ya—as!
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