SEVENTEEN hundred and sixty yards, A maiden's name and a term at cards, A halting leg, something stronger than beer, A river to many a student dear, A fragrant tree, and a foreign fruit, A government coach on a postal route, Honiton, Brussels, or Valenciennes, A spice preceding bishops and deans, A sin of the tongue, and the stronger sex, The state of the sea when no tempests vex, What you look for three or four times a day, What the Prince of Wales to the crown will lay, Three Scripture names, and a region wide, What an archer takes his shaft to guide: With six little letters all these are framed; When each you have duly and rightly named, They form what I hope you will never dare Against friend or foe in your heart to bear. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FRAGMENT ON DEATH by FRANCOIS VILLON BOSTON COMMON: 1630 by OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE WORKHOUSE by GEORGE ROBERT SIMS THE INDIAN UPON GOD by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS THE PIAZZA OF ST. MARK AT MIDNIGHT by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE GODODDIN: CONAN by ANEIRIN |