Classic Poem

A DAM was a handsome lad,
Innocent and merry;
Garden parties were his fad,
And he was honest, very.

Eve was rather artless; she
Was also quite vivacious;
She plucked her raiment from a tree
Elaeocarpaceous.

Satan was a City Man,
Wicked, dark-complected ...
He paled as only villains can
When Eve his love rejected. . . .

Satan was a chap who used
To sin with conscious pride, O!
He drank, he swore, he introduced
The Boa Constrictor Glide, O!

When she turned the fellow down,
Though with rage he trembled,
Satan smoothed away a frown,
Smiled at her, dissembled . . . .

But he'd think of it and curse
While he drank or gambled;
Thoughts of dark revenge he'd nurse
As round the world he rambled.

He muttered, " This is not the end;
You'll repent it, Madam! " ...
But he posed as Family Friend
When she wedded Adam.

Years went by, and still he came
Once a week to dinner;
His outward mood was bland and tame,
But evil was his inner.

Quite informal he'd drop in,
Dine and help do dishes ...
Who could think he planned a sin?
Who'd believe him vicious?

But every time he wiped a plate
Or helped poor Adam buttle
He'd sneer inside and meditate
Something smooth and subtle.

At last he gained in Adam's house
A plausible position;
At last he lulled, in Adam's spouse,
Her natural suspicion.

He rooned 'em ... then he gave a hiss,
A glide and boa-constricted ...
Details are told in Genesis ...
I think they were evicted.