When Ugli, son of Wampus, of a pre-historic date,
Built himself a country villa out of mud and sticks and slate;
Tribal elders held a council, from their caves the warning ran,
“He’s a visionary Bolshic, and his scheme Utopian!”
So they scoffed within their caverns, ’till they realized one day
All the tribe were building villas, and their dugouts were passe!
When John the son of Henry heard iconoclasts depone
That the Throne was for the People, not the People for the Throne;
Then the old boys gathered ’round him, and they heaved the verbal brick,
“It’s a heresy outlandish, and you’ll never make it stick!”
But he signed the Magna Charta; that its fundamentals stuck
Jamie’s son bore gory witness as the sullen headsman struck!
Our slow-evolving fathers, when they heard the Radical
Damn the slavery of child-labour, or the franchise claim for all,
Forthright went into a huddle, to recast the ancient ban,
“It’s agin all human natur’; it’s a crazy, godless plan!”
But our children have their schooling, and our ballots are the sticks,
To subdue the ass, Reaction, when he kicks against the pricks!
And today from mart and hustings rises still the old refrain
As the Old Boys in full conclave hurl anathema again;
Pompous dolts and greedy scoundrels shrilling to the universe,
“They are Bolshies, visionaries, they are fools, or (whisper) worse!”
But the rotten part about it, when they can no more condemn,
They will try to sneak the credit for the change we forced on them!
(Burnett A. Ward)
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Based on Topics: Sons Poems, Education Poems, Fathers Poems, People Poems, Change Poems, Fool Poems, Madness Poems, Countries Poems, Slavery Poems, Planning Poems, Gossip PoemsBased on Keywords: magna, agin, forthright, conclave, tribal, outlandish, headsman, verbal, villas, natur, reaction