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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
PETITION OF THE ORANGEMEN OF IRELAND, by THOMAS MOORE Poem Explanation Poet's Biography First Line: To the people of england, the humble petition Last Line: For which your petitioners ever will pray, %&c. &c. &c. &c Alternate Author Name(s): Little, Thomas | |||
To the people of England, the humble Petition Of Ireland's disconsolate Orangemen, showing That sad, very sad, is our present condition; Our jobbing all gone and our noble selves going; -- --- That forming one seventh, within a few fractions, Of Ireland's seven millions of hot heads and hearts, We hold it the basest of all base transactions To keep us from murdering the other six parts; That as to laws made for the good of the many, We humbly suggest there is nothing less true; As all human laws (and our own, more than any) - Are made by and for a particular few; - That much it delights every true Orange brother To see you in England such ardor evince, In discussing which sect most tormented the other, And burned with most gusto some hundred years since; That we love to behold, while old England grows faint, Messrs. Southey and Butler nigh coming to blows, To decide whether Dunstan, that strong bodied Saint, Ever truly and really pulled the De'il's nose; Whether t' other Saint, Dominic, burnt the De'il's paw Whether Edwy intrigued with Elgiva's old mother - And many such points, from which Southey can draw Conclusions most apt for our hating each other. That 't is very well known this devout Irish nation Has now for some ages, gone happily on Believing in two kinds of Substantiation , One party in Trans and the other in Con; That we, your petitioning Cons, have in right Of the said monosyllable ravaged the lands And embezzled the goods and annoyed, day and night, Both the bodies and souls of the sticklers for Trans; That we trust to Peel, Eldon, and other such sages, For keeping us still in the same state of mind; Pretty much as the world used to be in those ages, When still smaller syllables maddened mankind; --- When the words ex and per·³ served as well to annoy One's neighbors and friends with, as con and trans now; And Christians, like Southey, who stickled for oi, Cut the throats of all Christians who stickled for ou. That relying on England whose kindness already So often has helpt us to play this game o'er, We have got our red coats and our carabines ready, And wait but the word to show sport as before. That as to the expense - the few millions or so, Which for all such diversions John Bull has to pay - 'T is at least a great comfort to John Bull to know That to Orangemen's pockets ' t will all find its way. For which your petitioners ever will pray, Etc. , etc. , etc. , etc. , etc. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A TEMPLE TO FRIENDSHIP by THOMAS MOORE AFTER THE BATTLE (OF AUGHRIM) by THOMAS MOORE BLACK AND BLUE EYES by THOMAS MOORE ECHO [OR, ECHOES] by THOMAS MOORE LALLA ROOKH: PARADISE AND THE PERI by THOMAS MOORE LOVE'S YOUNG DREAM by THOMAS MOORE O, BREATHE NOT HIS NAME! by THOMAS MOORE OH! BLAME NOT THE BARD by THOMAS MOORE PRO PATRIA MORI by THOMAS MOORE |
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