Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE COCKNEY, by JOHN GODFREY SAXE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE COCKNEY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: It was in my foreign travel
Last Line: That was mentioned in the bill!
Subject(s): Speech; Travel; Oratory; Orators; Journeys; Trips


IT was in my foreign travel,
At a famous Flemish inn,
That I met a stoutish person
With a very ruddy skin;
And his hair was something sandy,
And was done in knotty curls,
And was parted in the middle,
In the manner of a girl's.

He was clad in checkered trousers,
And his coat was of a sort
To suggest a scanty pattern,
It was bobbed so very short;
And his cap was very little,
Such as soldiers often use;
And he wore a pair of gaiters,
And extremely heavy shoes.

I addressed the man in English,
And he answered in the same,
Though he spoke it in a fashion
That I thought a little lame;
For the aspirate was missing
Where the letter should have been,
But where'er it wasn't wanted,
He was sure to put it in!

When I spoke with admiration
Of St. Peter's mighty dome,
He remarked: "'T is really nothing
To the sights we 'ave at 'ome!"
And declared upon his honor, --
Though, of course, 't was very queer, --
That he doubted if the Romans
'Ad the hart of making beer!

When I named the Colosseum,
He observed, "'T is very fair;
I mean, ye know, it would be,
If they'd put it in repair;
But what progress or himprovement
Can those curst Hitalians 'ope
While they're hunder the dominion
Of that blasted muff, the Pope?"

Then we talked of other countries,
And he said that he had heard
That Hamericans spoke Hinglish,
But he deemed it quite habsurd;
Yet he felt the deepest hinterest
In the missionary work,
And would like to know if Georgia
Was in Boston or New York!

When I left the man-in-gaiters,
He was grumbling, o'er his gin,
At the charges of the hostess
Of that famous Flemish inn;
And he looked a very Briton
(So, methinks, I see him still),
As he pocketed the candle
That was mentioned in the bill!





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