HAIL, sav’ry compound, luscious to the taste,
The school-boy’s heart delighting ! sweet reward
Of many a tedious hour of penance sad
And lab’ring erudition ! Oft hast thou
Been brought to view by strong anticipation,
When poring over books, or conning loth
The lesson of dull grammar. When, at school,
The scanty table nothing did present
But suet dumpling , or hard mutton boil’d,
How has thy minc’d meat danc’d before the eyes
Of greedy visionary ! how possest
The mazes of his brain ! Then to his view
Did his dear HOME return: his parents’ smiles;
His ev’ning visits; and, perhaps, his joy
At play-house, where the busy Pantomime
Bewitch’d the time away: then to return
To sup ! to eat MINCE PIE ! drink luscious wine !
To keep the list’ning circle list’ning still
Till after midnight, when the little ELF
On his soft pillow dreams it o’er again,
And wakes to mutton boil’d and SCHOOL once more.
(Mary Elizabeth Robinson)
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Based on Topics: Time Poems, Sense & Perception Poems, Smiling Poems, Education Poems, Literature Poems, Books Poems, Greed PoemsBased on Keywords: school-boy, suet, conning, erudition, dumpling, play-house, minc