Classic Poem

ETIQUETTE

I N some old Spanish court there chanced to be
No one whose office was to save the king
From death by fire. The king himself? Not he; —
Could royal hands have done so mean a thing?

My boy, through life think how this king of Spain
(Whose name none knows — and so you'll not forget!)
Caught by his palace hearth-flames, not in vain
To ashes burned — for sake of Etiquette!