Sagittulae, Random Verses

by Edward Woodley Bowling

Must I then bid a long farewell to "John's,"
Its stately courts, its wisdom-wooing Dons,
Its antique towers, its labyrinthine maze,
Its nights of study, and its pleasant days?
O learned Synod, whose decree I wait,
Whose just decision makes, or mars my fate;
If in your gardens I have loved to roam,
And found within your courts a second home;
If I have loved the elm trees' quivering shade,
Since on your banks my freshman limbs I laid;
If rustling reeds make music unto me
More soft, more sweet than mortal melody;
If I have loved to "urge the flying ball"
Against your Racquet Court's re-echoing wall;
If, for the honour of the Johnian red,
I've gladly spurned the matutinal bed,
And though at rowing, woe is me! no dab,
I've rowed my best, and seldom caught a crab;
If classic Camus flow to me more dear
Than yellow Tiber, or Ilissus clear;
If fairer seem to me that fragrant stream
Than Cupid's kiss, or Poet's pictured dream;
If I have loved to linger o'er the page
Of Roman Bard, and Academian sage;
If all your grave pursuits, your pastimes gay,
Have been my care by night, my joy by day;
Still let me roam, unworthy tho' I be,
By Cam's slow stream, beneath the old elm tree;
Still let me lie in Alma Mater's arms,
Far from the wild world's troubles and alarms:
Hear me, nor in stern wrath my prayer repel! oh
Let, let me live to be a Johnian Fellow!

(1865).

THE LADY MARGARET 5TH BOAT,

May, 1863.

1. BOYCOTT, W. 5. PALEY, G. A.
2. FERGUSON, R. S. 6. GORST, P. F.
3. BOWLING, E. W. 7. SECKER, J. H.
4. SMITH, JASON. 8. FISHER, J.
Steerer—BUSHELL, W. D.

Eight B.A.'s stout from town came out M.A. degrees to take,
And made a vow from stroke to bow a bump or two to make.
Weary were they and jaded with the din of London town,
And they felt a tender longing for their long-lost cap
and gown.
So they sought the old Loganus: well pleased, I trow, was he,
The manly forms he knew so well once more again to see:
And they cried—"O old Loganus, can'st thou
find us e'er a boat,
In which our heavy carcases may o'er the waters float?"
Then laughed aloud Loganus—a bitter jest lov'd he—
And he cried "Such heavy mariners I ne'er before did see;
I have a fast commodious barge, drawn by a wellfed steed,
'Twill scarcely bear your weight, I fear: for never
have I see'd
Eight men so stout wish to go out a rowing in a 'height;'
Why, gentlemen, a man of war would sink beneath your weight."
Thus spake the old Loganus, and he laughed both
long and loud,
And when the eight men heard his words, they
stood abashed and cowed;
For they knew not that he loved them, and that,
sharply tho' he spoke,
The old man loved them kindly, tho' he also loved his joke:
For Loganus is a Trojan, and tho' hoary be his head,
He loveth Margareta, and the ancient Johnian red.
So he brought them out an eight-oar'd tub, and
oars both light and strong,
And bade them be courageous, and row their ship along.
Then in jumped Casa Minor, the Captain of our crew,
And the gallant son-of Fergus in a "blazer" bright and new;
And Thomas o Kulindon [*] full proudly grasped his oar,
And Iason o Chalkourgos [*], who weighs enough for "four;"
For if Jason and Medea had sailed with him for cargo,
To the bottom of the Euxine would have sunk the
good ship Argo.
Then Pallidulus Bargaeus, the mightiest of our crew,
Than whom no better oarsman ever wore the Cambridge blue.
And at number six sat Peter, whom Putney's waters know;
Number seven was young Josephus, the ever-sleepless Joe;
Number eight was John Piscator, at his oar a wondrous dab,
Who, tho' all his life a fisher, yet has never caught a crab;
Last of all the martial Modius, having laid his good sword by,
Seized the rudder-strings, and uttered an invigorating cry:
"Are you ready all? Row, Two, a stroke! Eyes
front, and sit at ease!
Quick March! I meant to say, Row on! and
mind the time all, please."
Then sped the gallant vessel, like an arrow from a bow,
And the men stood wondering on the banks to
see the "Old'uns" row;
And Father Camus raised his head, and smiled upon the crew,
For their swing, and time, and feather, and their
forms, full well he knew.
They rowed past Barnwell's silvery pool, past
Charon's gloomy bark,
And nearly came to grief beneath the railway rafters dark:
But down the willow-fringed Long Reach so fearful
was their pace,
That joyous was each Johnian, and pale each foeman's face.
They rowed round Ditton corner, and past the pleasant Plough,
Nor listened to the wild appeal for beer that came from bow;
They rowed round Grassy Corner, and its fairy forms divine,
But from the boat there wandered not an eye
of all the nine;
They rowed round First-Post Corner, the Little
Bridge they passed,
And calmly took their station two places from the last.
Off went the gun! with one accord the sluggish Cam they smote,
And were bumped in fifty seconds by the Second Jesus Boat.

(1863).

[* Transcriber's note: The names "Thomas o Kulindon" and "Iason o
Chalkourgos" were transliterated from the Greek as follows:

Thomas: Theta, omega, mu, alpha, sigma.
o: omicron.
Kulindon: Kappa, upsilon, lambda, iota, nu, delta, omega, nu.

Iason (Jason?): Iota, alpha, sigma, omega, nu.
o: omicron.
Chalkourgos: Chi, alpha, lambda, kappa, omicron, upsilon,
rho, gamma, omicron, sigma.]