Toll the bell!
Let them tell
Through the years
How the cheers
Rose and fell; —
With what pride
Thousands died
On the sea —
Gloriously,
And the shore,
In the war
That the rest of the world might be free!
Not for gold
We were told,
Nor for land, —
Understand, —
Did we fight;
No, we tore
Through that war
For the Right!
And we asked for ourselves not a thing, —
Save to prove, so to speak, by force
That Might is not Right, of course, —
And at last homeward came glorying, —
All rejoicing to know
There was nothing to show
For our toil ...
But hold! There's some spoil
After all!
They have set us a sinister trap:
That cabal
Has bequeathed us the Island of Yap!
What sort of a chap
Is the Satrap of Yap?
Does he ride in regal style?
Does he wear a crown,
And a scarlet gown, —
Or only a chocolate smile?
And how does he rate for guile?
Is he a Carib, or Kaffir, or Maori mayhap, —
Or even, good Heavens! a Jap?
We implore a reply, —
We must know Who and Why
And Where is the Satrap of Yap?
From the library dig up a map, —
Pore over the Seven Seas,
Look south-by-southwest
Of the Isles of the Blest
And north of the Great Celebes,
And there you will find —
If you've patience of mind —
A spot, to be sure, called " Yap " ;
See the new Cyclopaedia Brit.
For the flora and fauna of it,
And read in the text
Of the place we've annext
And be not ashamed of it,
For the Yaplanders live and grow fat, if you please,
On free-trade and free-love and free cocoanut trees,
Yet in spite of their numerous sins,
There is hope that they'll buy
Our taboo'd Bourbon Rye
And mirrors and ginghams and pins!
Come now, let us see
What the moral may be,
And bring this tale to an end:
If you'd asked me before
Why we entered the War
I could not have told you, my friend;
But now that it's clear we shall lend
To the amorous young Satrap
A million or two at a clip
(When his minister's taking a nap)
And back up the loan with a battleship, —
Of course it's as plain
As a post-prandial pain
Why Democracy went to Yap!
Toll the bell!
Let them tell
Through the years
How the cheers
Rose and fell! —
With what pride
Thousands died
On the sea —
Gloriously,
And the shore,
In the War
For peace and prosperity!
Let them tell
Through the years
How the cheers
Rose and fell; —
With what pride
Thousands died
On the sea —
Gloriously,
And the shore,
In the war
That the rest of the world might be free!
Not for gold
We were told,
Nor for land, —
Understand, —
Did we fight;
No, we tore
Through that war
For the Right!
And we asked for ourselves not a thing, —
Save to prove, so to speak, by force
That Might is not Right, of course, —
And at last homeward came glorying, —
All rejoicing to know
There was nothing to show
For our toil ...
But hold! There's some spoil
After all!
They have set us a sinister trap:
That cabal
Has bequeathed us the Island of Yap!
What sort of a chap
Is the Satrap of Yap?
Does he ride in regal style?
Does he wear a crown,
And a scarlet gown, —
Or only a chocolate smile?
And how does he rate for guile?
Is he a Carib, or Kaffir, or Maori mayhap, —
Or even, good Heavens! a Jap?
We implore a reply, —
We must know Who and Why
And Where is the Satrap of Yap?
From the library dig up a map, —
Pore over the Seven Seas,
Look south-by-southwest
Of the Isles of the Blest
And north of the Great Celebes,
And there you will find —
If you've patience of mind —
A spot, to be sure, called " Yap " ;
See the new Cyclopaedia Brit.
For the flora and fauna of it,
And read in the text
Of the place we've annext
And be not ashamed of it,
For the Yaplanders live and grow fat, if you please,
On free-trade and free-love and free cocoanut trees,
Yet in spite of their numerous sins,
There is hope that they'll buy
Our taboo'd Bourbon Rye
And mirrors and ginghams and pins!
Come now, let us see
What the moral may be,
And bring this tale to an end:
If you'd asked me before
Why we entered the War
I could not have told you, my friend;
But now that it's clear we shall lend
To the amorous young Satrap
A million or two at a clip
(When his minister's taking a nap)
And back up the loan with a battleship, —
Of course it's as plain
As a post-prandial pain
Why Democracy went to Yap!
Toll the bell!
Let them tell
Through the years
How the cheers
Rose and fell! —
With what pride
Thousands died
On the sea —
Gloriously,
And the shore,
In the War
For peace and prosperity!