Such strictures as these
Could a learned Chinese
Only read on some fine afternoon,
He would cry with pale lips,
“We shall have an Eclipse,
For a Dragon has seized on the Moon!”
AN EXPLANATION
BY ONE OF THE LIVERY.
Says Blue-and-Buff, to Drab-and-Pink,
“I’ve heard the hardest word I think,
That ever posed me since my teens,
I wonder what As-best-os means!”
Says Drab-and-Pink, to Blue-and-Buff,
“The word is clear, and plain enough.
It means a Nag wot goes the pace,
And so as best os wins the race.”
ON THE NEW HALF-FARTHINGS.
“Too small for any marketable shift,
What purpose can there be for coins like these?”
Hush, hush, good Sir!—Thus charitable Thrift
May give a Mite to him who wants a cheese!