Much that would carry clear conviction,
For, till I read of them to-day,
I knew them not in fact or fiction.
As yet I am, alas! without
Instruction in the art of fippling,
Though something may be found about
It in the works of Lear or Kipling.
And possibly I may unearth
In Lecky or in Laurence Oliphant
Some facts to remedy my dearth