Classic Poem

Le Roi d'Yvetot

There was a king of Yvetot once,
But little known in story;
To bed betimes, and rising late,
Sound sleeper without glory:
With cotton night-cap, too, instead
Of crown, would Jenny deck his head —
'Tis said
Rat tat, rat tat, rat tat, rat tat,
Oh, what a good little king was that!
Rat tat.

Snug in his palace thatched with straw,
He eat four meals a-day;
And on a donkey, through his realm,
Took leisurely his way.
Frank, joyous, from suspicion free,
One dog alone, his guard to be,
Had he.
Rat tat, rat tat, rat tat, rat tat,
Oh, what a good little king was that!
Rat tat.

One single onerous taste was his —
A somewhat lively thirst;
But the king who heeds his subjects' good,
Must heed his own the first.
A tax at table to allot,
Direct from every cask he got
One pot
Rat tat, rat tat, rat tat, rat tat,
Oh, what a good little king was that!
Rat tat.

Since maidens of good family
With love he could inspire,
His subjects had a hundred-fold
Good cause to call him sire
Four times a-year the roll was beat;
His men, at targets to compete,
Would meet.
Rat tat, rat tat, rat tat, rat tat,
Oh, what a good little king was that!
Rat tat.

He sought not to enlarge his states;
To neighbors kindness showed
And, model for all potentates,
Took pleasure for his code
Thus had his people shed no tear,
Till, dying, they in grief drew near
His bier
Rat tat, rat tat, rat tat, rat tat,
Oh, what a good little king was that!
Rat tat.

And still of this right worthy prince
Oft is the portrait shown,
The sign of a famous drinking house,
Through all the province known
And many a fête-day crowds will bring
To tipple there before " The King, "
And sing,
Rat tat, rat tat, rat tat, rat tat,
Oh, what a good little king was that!
Rat tat.