Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ROUNDABOUTS AND SWINGS, by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS First Line: It was early last september nigh to framlin'am-on-sea Last Line: "an' losses on the roundabouts means profits on the swings!" | ||||||||
IT was early last September nigh to Framlin'amon-Sea, An' 'twas Fair-day come to-morrow, an' the time was after tea, An' I met a painted caravan adown a dusty lane, A Pharaoh with his waggons comin' jolt an' creak an' strain; A cheery cove an' sunburnt, bold o' eye and wrinkled up, An' beside him on the splashboard sat a brindled tarrier pup, An' a lurcher wise as Solomon an' lean as fiddle-strings Was joggin' in the dust along 'is roundabouts and swings. "Goo'-day," said 'e; "Goo'-day," said I; "an' 'ow d'you find things go, An' what's the chance o' millions when you runs a travellin' show?" "I find," said 'e, "things very much as 'ow I've always found, For mostly they goes up and down or else goes round and round." Said 'e, "The job's the very spit o' what it always were, It's bread and bacon mostly when the dog don't catch a 'are; But lookin' at it broad, an' while it ain't no merchant king's, What's lost upon the roundabouts we pulls up on the swings!" "Goo' luck," said 'e; "Goo' luck," said I; "you've put it past a doubt; An' keep that lurcher on the road, the gamekeepers is out;" 'E thumped upon the footboard an' 'e lumbered on again To meet a gold-dust sunset down the owl-light in the lane; An' the moon she climbed the 'azels, while a nightjar seemed to spin That Pharaoh's wisdom o'er again, 'is sooth of lose-and-win; For "up an' down an' round," said 'e, "goes all appointed things, An' losses on the roundabouts means profits on the swings!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A CLASSICAL CONTRAST by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS A DREAM by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS A JEWELLED SELL by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS A MARCH BROWN by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS A SONG OF SYRINX by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS A STORY OF A, B, C by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS AN EMPTY SADDLE by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS AN URBAN ECLOGUE by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS ANCESTORS by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS APRIL IN 'THE STREET' by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS |
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