Or if too Old for such a use
They have their Fling at some Abuse,
As when to Censure Plays Unfit
Upon the Stage they make a Hit,
Or at elections Seal the Fate
Of an Obnoxious Candidate.
No wonder, Child, we prize the Hen,
Whose Egg is Mightier than the Pen.
Oliver Herford.
THE COW
The Cow is too well known, I fear,
To need an introduction here.
If She should vanish from earth's face
It would be hard to fill her place;
For with the Cow would disappear
So much that every one holds Dear.
Oh, think of all the Boots and Shoes,
Milk Punches, Gladstone Bags and Stews,
And Things too numerous to count,
Of which, my child, she is the Fount.
Let's hope, at least, the Fount may last
Until our Generation's past.
Oliver Herford.
THE CHIMPANZEE
Children, behold the Chimpanzee:
He sits on the ancestral tree
From which we sprang in ages gone.
I'm glad we sprang: had we held on,
We might, for aught that I can say,
Be horrid Chimpanzees today.
Oliver Herford.
THE HIPPOPOTAMUS
"Oh, say, what is this fearful, wild,
Incorrigible cuss?"
"This creature (don't say 'cuss,' my child;
'Tis slang)—this creature fierce is styled
The Hippopotamus.
His curious name derives its source
From two Greek words: hippos—a horse,
Potamos—river. See?
The river's plain enough, of course;
But why they called that thing a horse,
That's what is Greek to me."