Classic Poem

'Tis an era of Science and Doubt;
Hand in hand, strange to say, they appear,
And how oft they unfeelingly rout
The beliefs that our fathers held dear!
We are always tormented with fear
Lest the torchlight of rummaging Truth
May consign some old tale we revere
To the fables discarded in youth.

For example, historians scout
And reject, with unanimous sneer,
That delightful narration about
Captain Smith and the Princess' tear.
William Tell and the cap on a spear
They declare is a falsehood uncouth;
And these legends belong, it is clear,
To the fables discarded in youth.

Now a Frenchman is just bringing out
Something new in Maid Joan's career;
'Twill not do his researches to flout,
For his reasons are cogent and clear.
He declares that she lived to uprear
A small army of offspring, forsooth!
So the stake we must add, if sincere,
To the fables discarded in youth.

envoy.

Ah, my friends, we are certainly here,
And we trust in posterity's ruth;
But our deeds 'twill consign, with a jeer,
To the fables discarded in youth!