Were I a king in very truth,
And had a son – a guileless youth –
In probable succession;
To teach him patience, teach him tact,
How promptly in a fix to act,
He should adopt, in point of fact,
A manager’s profession.
To that condition he should stoop
(Despite a too fond mother),
With eight or ten ‘stars’ in his troupe,
All jealous of each other!
Oh, the man who can rule a theatrical crew,
Each member a genius (and some of them two),
And manage to humour them, little and great,
Can govern a tuppenny-ha’penny State!
Both A and B rehearsal slight –
They say they’ll be ‘all right at night’
(They’ve both to go to school yet);
C in each act MUST change her dress,
D WILL attempt to ‘square the press’;
E won’t play Romeo unless
His grandmother plays Juliet;
F claims all hoydens as her rights
(She’s played them thirty seasons);
And G must show herself in tights
For two convincing reasons –
Two very well-shaped reasons!
Oh, the man who can drive a theatrical team,
With wheelers and leaders in order supreme,
Can govern and rule, with a wave of his fin,
All Europe and Asia – with Ireland thrown in!
(William Schwenck Gilbert)
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Based on Topics: Man Poems, Night Poems, Kings & Queens Poems, Sons Poems, Truth Poems, Education Poems, Work & Career Poems, Reasoning Poems, Facts Poems, Leading & Managing Poems, Genius PoemsBased on Keywords: convincing, probable, theatrical, tights, rehearsal, well-shaped, wheelers, hoydens