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Mr. Punch's Book of Sports Brutalising men of strength,

Dangerous to those who lack it:

Lo! it speaks their doom at length—

The decadence of the racket.

Purged from customs fierce and rude

Soon shall sports become more gentle,

(As the grosser kinds of food

Yield the palm to bean and lentil),

Roller skates long since are "off,"

Tennis is no longer O.K.,

Rivals threaten even golf

As the fashion sets for croquet.

Hence, then, cricket, young and vain,

Football, fraught with brutal bustle.

You at Reason's light shall wane—

Modern upstart cult of muscle;

So may purer tastes begin

All our fiercer games refining,

Till, when spelicans come in,

I may get a chance of shining.