Classic Poem

Once in the hazy days of Yore
(I cannot very well be more
Explicit, since it was before
Dates were invented).
Once on a time, as I began
To say, the Lion formed a plan
To undermine the rule of Man,
Which he resented.

In answer to the Lion's call,
His fellow-creatures, great and small,
From earth and air came one and all
In Irepidation.
He then delivered a discourse,
And proved with eloquence and force
Man was their one and only source
Of Tribulation.

" What is he — taken at his best?
A mere pretence! Not even dressed,
If we his puny form divest
Of spoil he's looted.
The fact that we can far excel
His boasted Strength and Speed, as well
As Hearing, Sight, and Taste, and Smell,
Is undisputed.

" I am not boasting when I own
For Strength I'd back my claws alone
Against his battle-axe of stone;
While, as to Vision,
'Tis nothing more than idle talk
To mention Man beside the Hawk —
The swift Horse, too, his clumsy walk
Views with derision.

" Only Man's Ignorance, I'm bound
To say, could possibly confound
The Scent and Hearing of the Hound
With his dull powers;
As well his Taste, that gluts on fare
Like half-burnt Antelope and Bear,
With the fastidious Bee compare,
That sips the flowers
" And yet, " the Lion said, " though we
Outshine Man to the last degree
Collectively, none holds as he
The Combination. "

In short, the moral of his theme
Was this: If Beasts would reign supreme
Their only practicable scheme
Was Federation.

And so, in view of Public Need,
The Hawk, Hound, Bee, and Horse agreed
To pool their Sight, Scent, Taste, and Speed;
And in due season

They made, pro tem , the Lion King,
Intrusting him with everything
Upon condition he would bring
Proud Man to reason.

The crafty Lion then proposed
To send an Embassy composed
Of those same four. As none opposed,
They started straightway,
And, coming to Man's portals wide,
They entered, but no trace espied
Of Man, until (from the outside)
He closed the gateway.

And there he kept them till they swore
To be his servants evermore,
And work his will, and bow before
His rod of iron:
The Dog to watch, the Hawk to kill,
The Horse to carry and to till,
The Bee with sweets his jars to fill
All save the Lion —

The Lion stayed at home — and purred,
And kept thenceforth the crown conferred
Pro tem. , and nothing more was heard
About Conditions.
So ends my tale. Perchance it brings
Some light to bear on certain things —
Such as the Origin of Kings,
And Politicians.