TO CERTAIN CAUTIOUS PROPHETS.
(Suggested by the almost invariable form of the last sentence in the Weather Report.)
Ye watchers of the wind and rain,
Forgive me for becoming nettled
By your monotonous refrain:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
When, on a bright and sunlit morn,
I rise refreshed and finely fettled
Your cue is not to cheer but warn:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
They are too rare, these halcyon days,
When earth's a paradise rose-petalled,
For you to chill us with a phrase:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
Too often have I shirked the goal
At which (as Scotsmen say) I ettled,
Discouraged by your words of dole:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
For instance, lately I resigned
A trip to Shetland to be shettled;
Your menace made me change my mind:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
Henceforth I'm going to defy
You and your breed, inert, unmettled,
Who chant that sad Cassandra cry:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
Ay, if I held untrammelled sway
I'd have you bottled up and kettled
Like djinns, until you ceased to say:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
