HA, ha, ha! ho, ho, ho! hee, hee, hique! I'm the famous Californian Comique! I'm as supple as a willow, And as graceful as a billow, I'm handsome, and I'm strong, and I've got cheek. Cheek's nothing; no, by Jingo! I'm obscene! My gestures, not my words, say what I mean And the simple and the good, They would hiss me if they could, But I conquer all volition where I'm seen. I twist, contort, distort, and rage and rustle; I constrain my every limb and every muscle. I'm limber, I'm Ant…an, I chant the devil's p…an, I fill the stage with rich infernal bustle. I spin, and whirl, and thunder on the board; My heart is in my business, I'm encored; I'm as easy as a sprite, For I study day and night, I dream, devise-I travail, by the lord! "My nature's a perennial somersault," So you say, and so I think; but whose the fault? If I don't know good from evil, Is it wrong to be a devil? You don't get lime-juice cordial out of malt. But I'm plump, and soft, and strong, and tall, and sleek, And I pocket twenty guineas every week; I journey up and down, I've sweethearts in each town, I'm the famous Californian Comique. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A MAN CHILD IS BORN (1809) by EDGAR LEE MASTERS GO DOWN DEATH; A FUNERAL SERMON by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON SIC VITA by HENRY KING (1592-1669) CALYPSO WATCHING THE OCEAN by LETITIA ELIZABETH LANDON THE BLUE-FLAG IN THE BOG by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY REJECTED ADDRESSES: THE BABY'S DEBUT, BY W. W. by JAMES SMITH (1775-1839) |