Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BIGLOW PAPERS: 3. WHAT MR. ROBINSON THINKS, by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BIGLOW PAPERS: 3. WHAT MR. ROBINSON THINKS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Guvener b. Is a sensible man
Last Line: Gee!
Subject(s): Elections; Politics & Government; United States; Voting; Voters; Suffrage; America


GUVENER B. is a sensible man;
He stays to his home an' looks arter his folks;
He draws his furrer ez straight ez he can,
An' into nobody's tater-patch pokes; --
But John P.
Robinson he
Sez he wunt vote for Guvener B.

My! ain't it terrible? Wut shall we du?
We can't never choose him o' course, -- thet's
flat;
Guess we shall hev to come round, (don't you?)
An' go in fer thunder an' guns, an' all that;
Fer John P.
Robinson he
Sez he wunt vote for Guvener B.

Gineral C. is a dreffle smart man:
He's ben on all sides thet give places or pelf;
But consistency still wuz a part of his plan, --
He's ben true to one party, -- an' thet is him-
self; --
So John P.
Robinson he
Sez he shall vote for Gineral C.

Gineral C, has gone in fer the war;
He don't vally principle more 'n an old cud;
Wut did God make us raytional creeturs fer,
But glory an' gunpowder, plunder an' blood?
So John P.
Robinson he
Sez he shall vote for Gineral C.

We were gittin' on nicely up here to our village,
With good old idees o' wut's right an' wut ain't,
We kind o' thought Christ went agin war an'
pillage,
An' thet eppylets worn't the best mark of a
saint;
But John P.
Robinson he
Sez this kind o' thing's an exploded idee.

The side of our country must ollers be took,
An' President Polk, you know, he is our coun-
try;
An' the angel thet writes all our sins in a book
Puts the debit to him, an' to us the per country;
An' John P.
Robinson he
Sez this is his view o' the thing to a T.

Parson Wilbur he calls all these argimunts lies;
Sez they're nothin' on airth but jest fee, faw,
fum:
And thet all this big talk of our destinies
Is half ov it ign'ance, an' t' other half rum;
But John P.
Robinson he
Sez it ain't no sech thing; an', of course, so
must we.

Parson Wilbur sez he never heerd in his life
Thet th' Apostles rigged out in their swaller-
tail coats,
An' marched round in front of a drum an' a fife,
To git some on 'em office, an' some on 'em votes;
But John P.
Robinson he
Sez they didn't know everythin' down in Judee.

Wal, it's a marcy we've gut folks to tell us
The rights an' the wrongs o' these matters, I
vow, --
God sends country lawyers, an' other wise fellers,
To drive the world's team wen it gits in a
slough;
Fer John P.
Robinson he
Sez the world'll go right, ef he hollers out
Gee!




Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net