Then spinning top-like on his cue,
“I can’t begin to tell to you
The deep remorse we suffer for
The death of your Ambassador.”
Next, placing on his cue a plate,
He said, as it ’gan to gyrate:
“Nothing that’s happened in his reign
Has caused my Emperor so much pain.”
Upon his back he did declare,
While juggling five balls in the air,
“This attitude—the humblest yet—
Expresses personal regret.”
Last, spreading out a deck of cards—
“Accept my Emperor’s regards.
As our intentions were well meant,
Pray overlook the incident.”
THE DAY OF THE COMET
(May 18, 1910.)
Here it is—Eighteenth of May!
Dawneth now the fatal day
When we take the awful veil
Of the fearsome comet’s tail.
Vale, Earth!
What will happen, heaven knows;
We can’t even guess, suppose,
Hazard, speculate, surmise,
Hint, conjecture, theorize,
Or divine.