Page:Poems (1915) G K Chesterton.djvu/106



OHN Grubby, who was short and stout

And troubled with religious doubt,

Refused about the age of three

To sit upon the curate's knee;

(For so the eternal strife must rage

Between the spirit of the age

And Dogma, which, as is well known,

Does simply hate to be outgrown).

Grubby, the young idea that shoots,

Outgrew the ages like old boots;

While still, to all appearance, small,

Would have no Miracles at all;

And just before the age of ten

Firmly refused Free Will to men.

The altars reeled, the heavens shook,

Just as he read of in the book;

Flung from his house went forth the youth

Alone with tempests and the Truth,

Up to the distant city and dim

Where his papa had bought for him

A partnership in Chepe and Deer

Worth, say, twelve hundred pounds a year.

But he was resolute. Lord Brute

Had found him useful; and Lord Loot,

With whom few other men would act,

Valued his promptitude and tact;