THE realm of France possessed, in days of old, A thriving set of literati, Or men of letters, turning all to gold: -- The standard works they made less weighty By new abridgments -- took abundant Pains their roughnesses to polish, And plied their scissors to abolish The superficial and redundant. And yet, instead of fame and praise, Hogsheads of sack, and wreaths of bays, The law, in those benighted ages, By barbarous edicts did enjoin That they should cease their occupation, Terming these literary sages Clippers and filers of the coin; (Oh! what a monstrous profanation!) Nay, what was deeper to be dreaded, These worthies were, when caught, beheaded! But to the point. A story should Be like a coin -- a head and tail, In a few words enveloped. Good! I must not let the likeness fail. -- A gascon who had long pursued This trade of clipping, And filing the similitude Of good King Pepin, Was caught by the police, who found him With file and scissors in his hand And ounces of Pactolian sand Lying around him. The case admitting no denial, They hurried him forthwith to trial; When the judge made a long oration, About the crime of profanation, And gave no respite for repentance, But instantly pronounced his sentence, "Decapitation!" "As to offending powers divine," The culprit cried -- "be nothing said: Yours is a deeper guilt than mine. I took a portion from the head Of the king's image; you, oh fearful odds! Strike the whole head at once from God's!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WHEN MY SHIP COMES IN by ROBERT JONES BURDETTE EPISTLE TO JOHN LAPRAIK, AN OLD SCOTTISH BARD by ROBERT BURNS A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 3. AMARYLLIS by THOMAS CAMPION THE CUMBERLAND [MARCH 8, 1862] by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW IN TEMPTATION by CHARLES WESLEY PSALM 125 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE |