A very vicious Angle, a master of abuse, Reviled a neighbor Angle, and shouted, "You're obtuse!" (He himself was quite acute, as all angles like to be, And the neighbor was obtuse, as any one could see.) It wasn't many minutes, I much regret to say, Before they came to blows in a very savage way. And to make the matter worse, the Ellipse was strolling by, And, joining in the fray, almost lost a focus eye! A Parabola, alas! stopped and mingled in the fight, But was flattened to an oval, a very shocking sight! A most aggressive Triangle, tall and rather thin, Was carried from the combat with both his sides knocked in. A smooth and perfect Circle came rolling on the ground, And kindly counselled peace, but he couldn't bring them 'round. They got to throwing points. There were many looking on, And one of these was hit, -- 'twas a portly Polygon. "Police! police!" he cried, and he shouted long and loud, And soon a squad of Rectangles captured all the crowd! A battered, sorry rabble, they stood before the Square, Who frowned upon the culprits with his most judicial air, And imposed a heavy sentence that none of them could shirk, -- A life, in Conic Sections, of unremitting work! And that is why, my hearers, as wise professors say, They're still in Conic Sections, and cannot get away. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RAIN by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES IN MAY by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR FEELINGS OF A REPUBLICAN ON THE FALL OF BONAPARTE by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY THE BROOK; AN IDYL: THE BROOK'S SONG by ALFRED TENNYSON |