Classic Poem

If this base country had not cast off kings,
So Pedder's manner hints, he'd be an earl …
He talks of “Demos” and his thin lips curl …
A rumpled grace that speaks of courtlier things,
So Pedder fancies, round about him clings …
The swine of trade will never tread this pearl;
He does not toil; from churl to common churl
He makes his way with lordly borrowings.

His overcoat he flings on like a cloak,
He writes romantic verses … with a quill …
Once, when some ribald fellow dared to joke
Of the late Queen Bess he sobbed and cried, “Be still!”
Another time, caught drunk and unaware,
He showed me how one works a barber's chair.