Classic Poem

Jean de Paris.

Laugh and sing, sing and laugh, Paris Jack,
Don thy gloves, and set off on thy tour;
But to Paris be sure to come back,
Whether stuffed in the pocket, or poor
Ah, Jack of Paris, Paris Jack,
To thy Paris hasten back!'

From old time 'tis recorded in print
How his sabre Jack always would bare,
When he heard ignoramusses hint
That their cities with his could compare,
Proclaiming on his soul,
In verse as well as prose,
That round the towers of Notre Dame
The earth revolving goes.

Laugh and sing, sing and laugh, Paris Jack,
Don thy gloves, and set off on thy tour;
But to Paris be sure to come back,
Whether stuffed in the pocket, or poor
Ah, Jack of Paris, Paris, Jack,
To thy Paris hasten back!

If he clear the Great Wall in his jumps,
If with Mandarin's wife he succeed,
If he call them a set of old frumps,
If to Paris he gallop full speed —
'Tis but in hopes that he
With Chinese wonders there,
In his old porter's lodge, some day,
May make the gossips stare

Laugh and sing, sing and laugh, Paris Jack,
Don thy gloves, and set off on thy tour;
But to Paris be sure to come back,
Whether stuffed in the pocket, or poor.
Ah, Jack of Paris, Paris Jack,
To thy Paris hasten back!

" Gold I want, and in plenty, and quick! "
Jack exclaims, as he lands in Peru:
Much he's urged to that country to stick —
" I a trader! " quoth Jack, " it won't do —
Ten mistresses I've left —
Your metal's vile — no, no,
For Paris, ay, an alms-house there,
All riches I forego "

Laugh and sing, sing and laugh, Paris Jack,
Don thy gloves, and set off on thy tour;
But to Paris be sure to come back,
Whether stuffed in the pocket, or poor
Ah, Jack of Paris, Paris Jack,
To thy Paris hasten back!

To the war all alive he repairs,
For the Cross, or the Crescent, a match:
Fights and pillages, ravishes, swears,
Then to Paris sends off a despatch —
" My glory from the Louvre
Up to the Boulevards tell;
And busts of me, six sous apiece,
Let Savoyard boys sell! "

Laugh and sing, sing and laugh, Paris Jack,
Don thy gloves, and set off on thy tour;
But to Paris be sure to come back,
Whether stuffed in the pocket, or poor
Ah, Jack of Paris, Paris Jack,
To thy Paris hasten back!

He pretends that in Persia one night
Said a queen to him — " King thou shalt be " —
" Very well — but my pains to requite,
Come, " quoth Jack, " just to Paris with me!
There for a week of fêtes,
The wonder of the town,
I'll at Opera sport myself
That all may see my crown. "

Laugh and sing, sing and laugh, Paris Jack,
Don thy gloves, and set off on thy tour;
But to Paris be sure to come back,
Whether stuffed in the pocket, or poor.
Ah, Jack of Paris, Paris Jack,
To thy Paris hasten back!

Paris Jack, it is we in this ditty
Who are painted, aye gaping with wonder;
When we travel, so grand is our city,
We are never from Paris asunder
Now as of old, what love,
A love that ne'er can fade,
For walls like these wherein Old Nick
His paradise hath made!

Laugh and sing, sing and laugh, Paris Jack,
Don thy gloves, and set off on thy tour;
But to Paris be sure to come back,
Whether stuffed in the pocket, or poor
Ah, Jack of Paris, Paris Jack,
To thy Paris hasten back!