Page:Royal riddle book.pdf/9

 What force and strength could not get through,

I with a gentle touch can do;

And many in the street would stand,

Were I not as a friend at hand.

Homer of old, as stories tell,

His Iliad put in a nut-shell;

But did you know what l conceal-

Suppose a kingdom, commonweal,

At stake—here all the springs are found,

Which sets the wheel a-whirling round.

In me a thousand mischiefs lie,

A thousand pleasures I supply;

In me are, hid affairs of state,

In me the secrets of the great,

In me the merchant lays his dust,

In me the tradesman puts his trust;

But hold—my being to explore.

Know I'm inanimate—no more.

Tho' light my body is and small,

Tho‘ I have wings to fly withal,

And through the air may rove;

Yet was I not by nature press'd,

In ease and indolence I‘d rest,

And never choose to move.

'Tis beating makes me diligent,

When beat and on an errand sent,

I hurry too and fro;

And like an idle boy at school,

Whom nothing but the rod can rule,

Improve at every blow.

With a badge on my back,

Of red, orange, or black,

I travel the nation all over,