Tempora Mutantur
Letters, letters, letters, letters!
Some that please and some that bore,
Some that threaten prison fetters
(Metaphorically, fetters
Such as bind insolvent debtors) -
Invitations by the score.
One from COGSON, WILES, and RAILER,
My attorneys, off the Strand;
One from COPPERBLOCK, my tailor -
My unreasonable tailor -
One in FLAGG'S disgusting hand.
One from EPHRAIM and MOSES,
Wanting coin without a doubt,
I should like to pull their noses -
Their uncompromising noses;
One from ALICE with the roses -
Ah, I know what that's about!
Time was when I waited, waited
For the missives that she wrote,
Humble postmen execrated -
Loudly, deeply execrated -
When I heard I wasn't fated
To be gladdened with a note!
Time was when I'd not have bartered
Of her little pen a dip
For a peerage duly gartered -
For a peerage starred and gartered -
With a palace-office chartered,
Or a Secretaryship.
But the time for that is over,
And I wish we'd never met.
I'm afraid I've proved a rover -
I'm afraid a heartless rover -
Quarters in a place like Dover
Tend to make a man forget.
Bills for carriages and horses,
Bills for wine and light cigar,
Matters that concern the Forces -
News that may affect the Forces -
News affecting my resources,
Much more interesting are!
And the tiny little paper,
With the words that seem to run
[...] Read more
poem by William Schwenck Gilbert
Added by Poetry Lover
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