Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MONKEY-TOURIST; FROM YRIARTE, by JOHN GODFREY SAXE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MONKEY-TOURIST; FROM YRIARTE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: A monkey clad in cloth-of-gold
Last Line: That men as well as monkeys make!
Subject(s): Clothing & Dress; Monkeys


A MONKEY clad in cloth-of-gold
(So in the proverb we are told)
Will be a Monkey still. The aim
Of this new fable is the same;
Pray, listen while I tell in rhyme
The tale how, once upon a time,
A Monkey, drest in garments bright
With gaudy colors such as might
Become a Harlequin, set out --
To show her finery, no doubt --
Upon her travels. In what way,
By ship or coach, I cannot say;
'T is only known her journey ran
As far abroad as Tetuan:
A country -- as I understand --
On maps set down as "Monkey-land";
And widely famous as the place
Where most abound the simian race,
And where, one scarcely needs to add,
The chattering tribes are simply clad
In their own skins, and know no more
Of dress than Mother Eve, before
She ate of the forbidden fruit,
And donned, for shame, her fig-leaf suit.
Here -- as the reader may suppose --
Our lady-tourist proudly shows,
With many a change, her gay attire,
Which all the natives much admire,
And think the wearer must possess
A mind as brilliant as her dress,
And, thereupon, the stranger made
Their leader in a coming raid
For forage, in the country round,
Where monkey-provender was found.
Alas, the day! her clothing proved
An obstacle where'er she moved;
And when the weary day was done,
Her gaudy garments, -- every one, --
That in the morning looked so fine,
Were strewn in rags along the line
Through which the expedition led;
And she, worn out and nearly dead,
At night was but the scoff and scorn
Of those who hailed her "queen" at morn!

MORAL.

A thousand instances confess
That judging people by their dress,
As bright or brave, is a mistake
That men as well as monkeys make!





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