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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LINES ON A GRASSHOPPER (BY A GRANGER NATURALIST), by                    
First Line: "I've got him, at last, in the focus"
Last Line: Whenever he lit at their gate
Subject(s): Grasshoppers;insects;nature; Bugs


I'VE got him, at last, in the focus
Of a powerful telescope glass,
But he, magnified, looks like a slow cuss,
And his ears much like those of an ass.

His eyes are like two peeled potatoes;
His wings like the sails of a ship;
And his beard, which unshaven that way grows,
Seems to cover an acre of lip.

His stomach is large and capacious,
It always is hungry, no doubt;
And, much like a hog, his rapacious
Desires may be gauged by his snout.

His legs are not merely for creeping,
They are muscular, angular, high;
Just fitted for gallantly leaping,
When he chooses, plumb into the sky!

From his brawny bull neck, saffron-tinted,
Suspended by weather-stained rope,
Hangs a medal with Sanscrit imprinted:
"With this monster no mortal can cope!

"He's descended through long generations,
With a pedigree perfect and straight,
From the locust that scooped ancient nations
Whenever he lit at their gate."





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