Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MUST AND MAY, by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE



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MUST AND MAY, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Must and may they were two half-brothers
Last Line: Singing a, b, c, d, e. F. G.
Alternate Author Name(s): Ramal, Walter; De La Mare, Walter


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 -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- and G.

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 A, B, C, D, E. F. G.





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