THE WHITING AND THE SNAIL

From "Alice in Wonderland"

AFTER MARY HOWITT

WILL YOU walk a little faster?" said a whiting to a snail, "There's a porpoise close behind us, and he's treading on my

tail,

See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance! They are waiting on the shingle-will you come and join the dance?

Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?

Will you, won't you, the dance?

will you, won't you, won't

you join

"You can really have no notion how delightful it will be When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out to sea!"

But the snail replied, "Too far, too far!" and gave a look

askance

Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance.

Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance.

Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join the dance.

"What matters it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied.

"There is another shore, you know, upon the other side. The further off from England the nearer is to FranceThen turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance.

Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join

the dance?

Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't

the dance?"

you join

Lewis Carroll [1832-1898]

The Higher Pantheism in a Nutshell 1867

THE RECOGNITION

AFTER TENNYSON

HOME they brought her sailor son,
Grown a man across the sea,

Tall and broad and black of beard,
And hoarse of voice as man may be.

Hand to shake and mouth to kiss,
Both he offered ere he spoke;
But she said, "What man is this
Comes to play a sorry joke?"

Then they praised him,-called him "smart,”
"Tightest lad that ever stept;"

But her son she did not know,

And she neither smiled nor wept.

Rose, a nurse of ninety years,

Set a pigeon-pie in sight;

She saw him eat:-" "Tis he! 'tis he!"

She knew him-by his appetite!

Frederick William Sawyer [1810-1875]

THE HIGHER PANTHEISM IN A NUTSHELL

AFTER TENNYSON

ONE, who is not, we see: but one, whom we see not, is;
Surely this is not that: but that is assuredly this.

What, and wherefore, and whence? for under is over and under;

If thunder could be without lightning, lightning could be without thunder.

Doubt is faith in the main: but faith, on the whole, is doubt; We cannot believe by proof: but could we believe without?

Why, and whither, and how? for barley and rye are not

clover;

Neither are straight lines curves: yet over is under and

over.

Two and two may be four: but four and four are not eight; Fate and God may be twain: but God is the same thing as fate.

Ask a man what he thinks, and get from a man what he feels;

God, once caught in the fact, shows you a fair pair of heels.

Body and spirit are twins: God only knows which is which; The soul squats down in the flesh, like a tinker drunk in a ditch.

One and two are not one: but one and nothing is two;
Truth can hardly be false, if falsehood cannot be true.

Once the mastodon was: pterodactyls were common as cocks;

Then the mammoth was God; now is He a prize ox.

Parallels all things are: yet many of these are askew.
You are certainly I: but certainly I am not you.

Springs the rock from the plain, shoots the stream from the rock;

Cocks exist for the hen: but hens exist for the cock.

God, whom we see not, is: and God, who is not, we see; Fiddle, we know, is diddle: and diddle, we take it, is dee. Algernon Charles Swinburne [1837-1909]

THE WILLOW-TREE

AFTER THACKERAY

LONG by the willow-trees

Vainly they sought her,

Wild rang the mother's screams

The Willow-Tree

O'er the gray water:
"Where is my lovely one?
Where is my daughter?

"Rouse thee, Sir Constable-
Rouse thee and look;
Fisherman, bring your net,
Boatman, your hook.
Beat in the lily-beds,
Dive in the brook!"

Vainly the constable

Shouted and called her;

Vainly the fisherman

Beat the green alder; Vainly he flung the net, Never it hauled her!

Mother beside the fire

Sat, her nightcap in;

Father, in easy chair,
Gloomily napping,
When at the window-sill

Came a light tapping!

And a pale countenance

Looked through the casement.

Loud beat the mother's heart,

Sick with amazement,

And at the vision which

Came to surprise her,

Shrieked in an agony— "Lor'! it's Elizar!"

Yes, 'twas Elizabeth

Yes, 'twas their girl;
Pale was her cheek, and her
Hair out of curl.

"Mother," the loving one,

Blushing exclaimed,

"Let not your innocent Lizzy be blamed.

1869

"Yesterday, going to Aunt
Jones's to tea,

Mother, dear mother, I
Forgot the door-key!
And as the night was cold
And the way steep,
Mrs. Jones kept me to
Breakfast and sleep."

Whether her Pa and Ma
Fully believed her,
That we shall never know,

Stern they received her;

And for the work of that

Cruel, though short, night
Sent her to bed without

Tea for a fortnight.

MORAL

Hey diddle diddlety,

Cat and the fiddlety,

Maidens of England, take caution by she!

Let love and suicide

Never tempt you aside,

And always remember to take the door-key. William Makepeace Thackeray [1811–1863]

POETS AND LINNETS

AFTER ROBERT BROWNING

WHERE'ER there's a thistle to feed a linnet
And linnets are plenty, thistles rife—
Or an acorn-cup to catch dew-drops in it
There's ample promise of further life.
Now, mark how we begin it.

For linnets will follow, if linnets are minded,
As blows the white-feather parachute;
And ships will reel by the tempest blinded—
Aye, ships and shiploads of men to boot!
How deep whole fleets you'll find hid.