Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE CHAUTAUQUAN MAID, by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING Poet's Biography First Line: She had studied every ology Last Line: But they got themselves in trouble, and, of course, got whipped, by gaul. Alternate Author Name(s): King, Ben Subject(s): Cleopatra, Queen Of Egypt (69-30 B.c.); England; Geology; Greek Language; Latin; Philology; English | ||||||||
SHE had studied every ology -- Ichthyology, zoology, Philology, geology, conchology, and more; Knew the bones of every mammal, From the mouse up to the camel, And the mollusks and crustaceans that crept on every shore. To think her up in history Was not at all a mystery; She could name you any ruler from old England to Sumatra. It would certainly amaze you What she said about Aspasia And the little unsophisticated maiden, Cleopatra. She had studied Greek and Latin, Hebrew, Sanscrit (please put that in); Read Xenophon and Horace, Ovid, Virgil and the rest. She didn't say, "I'll learn yuh," But "teach you" that Calphurnia Sewed fifty-seven buttonholes in Julius Caesar's vest. She loved to pull the petals From a flower. The baser metals, She doted on their study, and for nuggets she would bone you. She loved the dromedary, And the docile cassowary, And the feathers of the emu she had stuck in her "chiffonier." She had studied evolution, And arrived at the solution How long our first appendage was; of course, I didn't ask her, But she said that she'd resolved from What she knew, that I evolved from A carrot-haired chimpanzee she had seen in Madagascar. She could scan iambic meter, And she knew each Roman praetor, And surprised me when she told the way the empire came to fall. The Huns sneaked in the forum, And the Romans tried to floor 'em, But they got themselves in trouble, and, of course, got whipped, by Gaul. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...NINETEEN FORTY by NORMAN DUBIE GHOSTS IN ENGLAND by ROBINSON JEFFERS STAYING UP FOR ENGLAND by LIAM RECTOR STONE AND FLOWER by KENNETH REXROTH THE HANGED MAN by KENNETH REXROTH ENGLISH TRAIN COMPARTMENT by JOHN UPDIKE THE PESSIMIST by BENJAMIN FRANKLIN KING |
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