Classic Poem

John . In the sound of that rebellious word
There is brave music. Jack, and Jacobin,
Are vulgar terms; law-link'd to shame and sin,
They have a twang of Jack the Hangman's cord:
Yet John hath merit which can well afford
To be call'd Jack's. By life's strange offs and ons!
Glory hath had great dealings with the Johns,
Since history first awak'd where fable snored.
John Cade, John Huss, John Hampden, and John Knox!
Aye, these were names of fellows who had will.
John Wilson's name, far sounded, sounds not ill;
But how unlike John Milton's, or John Locke's!
John Bright, like Locke and Milton, scorns paid sloth;
And Johnson might have lik'd to gibbet both.