Page:A Legend of Camelot, Pictures and Poems, etc. George du Maurier, 1898.djvu/113



I. HERE lived a youth (he liveth yet),

And Richard was he christened;

And well he played the flageolet,

And all the ladies listened;

And some were even heard to say

His brow was handsome (in its way).

II. But Richard met Ben Ball, a man

All chest, and cheek, and shoulder,

And ever so much bigger than

Himself, though little older;

Whose biceps Richard felt and found

It measured fifteen inches round!

III. Now this demoralised him quite;

And then he took to reading

The naughty books that ladies write

And found there, with exceeding

Dismay, that ladies' heroes are

Wild, wicked men, and muscular!

IV. Then in high dudgeon did he use

To feel himself all over;

But little sinew, and no thews

Could Richard's thumbs discover;

And wickedness is rarely met

In men that play the flageolet.

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