HOW IT CHANCED; AN ORIENTAL APOLOGUE by JOHN GODFREY SAXE

I.

DAME NATURE, when her work was done,
And she had rested from creation.
Called up her creatures, one by one,
To fix for each his life's duration.

II.

The ass came first, but dropped his ears
On learning that the dame intended
That he should bear for thirty years
His panniers ere his labor ended.

III.

So Nature, like a gentle queen
(The story goes), at once relented,
And changed the thirty to eighteen,
Wherewith the ass was well contented.

IV.

The dog came next, but plainly said
So long a life could be but hateful;
So Nature gave him twelve instead,
Whereat the dog was duly grateful.

V.

Next came the ape; but Nature when
He grumbled, like the dog and donkey,
Instead of thirty gave him ten,
Which quite appeased the angry monkey.

VI.

At last came man; how brief appears
The term assigned, for work or pleasure!
"Alas!" he cried, "but thirty years?
O Nature, lengthen out the measure!"

VII.

"Well then, I give thee eighteen more
(The ass's years); art thou contented?"
"Nay," said the beggar, "I implore
A longer term." The dame consented.

VIII.

"I add the dog's twelve years beside."
"'T is not enough!" "For thy persistence,
I add ten more," the dame replied,
"The period of the ape's existence."

IX.

And thus of man's threescore and ten,
The thirty years at the beginning
Are his of right, and only then
He wins whate'er is worth the winning

X.

Then come the ass's eighteen years,
A weary space of toil and trouble,
Beset with crosses, cares, and fears,
When joys grow less, and sorrows double.

XI.

The dog's twelve years come on, at length,
When man, the jest of every scorner,
Bereft of manhood's pride and strength,
Sits growling, toothless, in a corner.

XII.

At last, the destined term to fill,
The ape's ten years come lagging after,
And man, a chattering imbecile,
Is but a theme for childish laughter.

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