Читать книгу Verse and Worse - Graham Harry - Страница 21

The Sultan of the Purple East

Is quite a cynic, in his way,

And really doesn't mind the least

His nickname of 'Abdul the – ' (Nay!

I might perhaps come in for blame

If I divulged this monarch's name.)

The Turk is such a kindly man,

But his ideas of sport are crude;

He to the poor Armenian

Is not intentionally rude,

But still it is his heartless habit

To treat him as we treat the rabbit.

If he wants bracing up a bit,

His pleasing little custom is

To take a hatchet and commit

A series of atrocities.

I should not fancy, after dark,

To meet him, say, in Regent's Park.

A deeply married man is he,

'Early and often' is his rule;

He practises polygamy

Directly after leaving school,

And so arranges that his wives

Live happy but secluded lives.

If they attend a public place,

They have to do so in disguise,

And so conceal one-half their face

That nothing but a pair of eyes

Suggests the hidden charm that lurks

Beneath the veils of lady Turks.

Then too in Turkey all the men

Smoke water-pipes and cross their legs;

They watch their harem as a hen

That guards her first attempt at eggs.

(If you don't know what harems are,

Just run and ask your dear papa.)

Wives of great men oft remind us

We should make our wives sublime,

But the years advancing find us

Vainly working over-time.

We could minimise our work

By the methods of the Turk.