MALA-FIDE TRAVELLERS.
(Unlicensed by the Laureate.)
LATE, late, past ten, so dark the night and chill.
Late, late, eleven, but we can enter still.
Too late, too late, ye cannot enter now!
No thought had we the night was so far spent,
And, hearing this, the Bobby will relent.
Too late, too late, ye cannot enter now!
No beer, though late, and dark, and chill the night.
O let us in, and we will not get tight!
Too late, too late, ye cannot enter now!
A glass of gin to-night would be so sweet.
O let us in, that we may have it neat!
Too late, too late, ye cannot enter now!
Punch, November 16, 1872.
The following imitation of Tennyson is of interest as having appeared forty years ago, when the poet was comparatively unknown:—