Page:Poets of John Company.djvu/64

42 Leaf of the palm wert thou.
 * Primitive punkah! and thy form is still

The same with Mussulman, and eke Hindoo,
 * Moved in the hand at will.

In the closed harem cross-legged sit the wives
 * Of Rajahs and Moghuls, paun ever chewing;

And with the leaf of palm Fanning themselves, they whiff the balm
 * Of hookahs, still the stimulus renewing.

And thus 'midst smoke and paun they pass their lazy lives.
 * But European taste
 * Suspends thee high;
 * And thou art most commodiously placed.
 * Not to disturb the eye.

Whilst the luxurious Soldier or Civilian
 * Quaffs blushing Lai beneath thy breezy swing.

And gulps factitious airs—which drive a million
 * Muskeetos from him. buzzing on the wing.

Refreshing flapper! influence divine! Prime relisher of feasts—unmeasured praise be thine!

Punkah I thou cooler of the fever's heat;
 * Dryer of floods that inundate the skin;

Teaching the pulse more temperately to beat,
 * And keeping sickness out, and health within;

Thou art a blessing in this nether sphere; Without thee, what would man do here— In this o'erpowering land of cloudless sun? Why, faith! his hot career would soon be done. Even now his skin is often like a sheet
 * Of parchment, crisp and brown, and wo-begone;

Without thee, then would he not be, by heat,
 * Par-boiled, and grilled, and roasted to the bone?
 * And yet I am the very first,
 * To give thee, Punkah, fitting praise;
 * In all thy cheering virtues versed,
 * I consecrate to thee my lays.
 * Oh! I love to write about thee,
 * For I cannot breathe without thee!