“Tabb’s dead! and we who always keep
The Rule of Silence when we sleep,
Agreed, for his detested sake,
To keep it sometimes when awake,
So that his students all might see
What lofty scorn of him had we.”
D.
“Go now, and get your ‘little ting,’
And we shall both Te Deum sing.”
B.
“Te Deum!”
D.
“Hush! The chant you spoil
And mispronounce the second voil.
Tee Dyum you should say, like me.”
B.
“Now den, you don’t know “Fa” from ‘Si’.”
D.
“Ah, B—- —-, keep your temper, do,
Or Silence I shall keep with you.
Look there! I’ll take my solemn oath
Tabb’s body’s grinning at us both.”
(John Bannister Tabb)
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Based on Topics: Sleep Poems, Anger Poems, Silence PoemsBased on Keywords: deum, voil, tabb, mispronounce