Must and May they were two half-brothers, And Must -- a giant was he: And May but a wisp of a flibbetigibbet, A mere minikin manikinee. They dwelt in a mansion called Oughtoo, yes, Oughtoo, And a drearisome house was she. In an hundred great chambers Must wallowed in comfort, All at his ease to be. And the hundred and first was a crack of a cupboard, With nought but a hole for the key, Where the glint of a glimmer of a quickle of sunshine Gleamed in about half-past three. And there our May, smiling up at the window -- At the place where the window should be; As he sang to a harp with a top and a bottom string -- A -- @3B@1 -- C -- D -- @3E@1 -- F -- and @3G@1. But if there was one thing Must could not instomach, 'Twas a treble-shrill fiddlededee, And he vowed a great vow he would learn May his manners, And he did -- as you'll shortly agree. Down -- down -- he collumbered; and with ear to the keyhole He crouched upon bended knee; And he roared with a roar that drowned the sweet harp-strings, He roared like a storm at sea. And he catched little May by the twist of his breeches Where the slack is snipped out in a V; And swallowed him whole; and he scrunched up his harp, too, He was so an -- ga -- ree. Now mutterers say that that Oughtoo is haunted, Exactly at half-past three, By the phantom of poor little May to fey harp-strings Singing @3A@1, B, C, @3D@1, E. F. @3G@1. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TUNICA PALLIO PROPRIOR by MARIANNE MOORE FONTAINEBLEAU (AUTUMN) by SARA TEASDALE CROTALUS by FRANCIS BRET HARTE ODE FOR A SOCIAL MEETING, WITH SLIGHT ALTERATIONS BY A TEETOTALER by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES THE BLESSED VIRGIN, COMPARED TO THE AIR WE BREATHE by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS THE WHITE SHIP by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI EVERYONE SANG by SIEGFRIED SASSOON |