Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ORATOR PUFF by THOMAS MOORE

First Line: MR. ORATOR PUFF HAD TWO TONES IN HIS VOICE
Last Line: ONE VOICE FOR AN ORATOR'S SURELY ENOUGH.
Subject(s): SPEECH; ORATORY; ORATORS;
MR. ORATOR PUFF had two tones in his voice,
The one squeaking thus, and the other down so;
In each sentence he uttered he gave you your
choice,

For one half was B alt, and the rest G below.
O! O! Orator Puff,
One voice for an orator's surely enough.

But he still talked away, spite of coughs and of
frowns,
So distracting all ears with his ups and his
downs,
That a wag once, on hearing the orator say,
"My voice is for war!" asked, "Which of
them, pray?"
O! O! Orator Puff, etc.

Reeling homeward one evening, top-heavy with
gin,
And rehearsing his speech on the weight of the
crown,
He tripped near a saw-pit. and tumbled right in,
"Sinking fund" the last words as his noddle
came down.
O! O! Orator Puff, etc.

"Good Lord!" he exclaimed. in his he-and-she
tones,
"HELP ME OUT! Help me out! I have broken
my bones!"
"Help you out?" said a Paddy who passed,
"what a bother!
Why, there's two of you there -- can't you help
one another?"
O! O! Orator Puff.
One voice for an orator's surely enough.


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