“By thy smile veneered and ironic eye,
Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?
The “Rime of the Ancient Statesman.” A Relic of the Past, not by S. T. Coleridge. Cambridge. Henry W. Wallis, Sidney Street, 1874. This is an anonymous political parody, consisting of seventy-nine verses, all strongly condemning the measures passed by the Liberal party under Mr. Gladstone’s leadership.
The “ancient statesman” (Mr. Gladstone), meets Mr. Disraeli (then Prime Minister), at the entrance to the House of Commons:
It is an ancient statesman,
And he stoppeth one of three;
“By thy whiskers grey and frowning face
Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?”
The Palace doors are opened wide,
They’re waiting there within;