Classic Poem

A Poodle, wistful-eyed and glum,
Sat looking at a Pendulum,
That with a steady tick and tock,
Before the wall, beneath the clock,
Swang back and forth its brazen disk.
The Poodle gave his tail a whisk.
A sudden thought had crossed his brain:
" What once it did, it does again,
Again, again, again, again. "
The Poodle's head, with both his eyes
And both his ears of goodly size,
Began to nod from right to left
As if of every sense bereft,
With a rhythmic motion mocking
Both the ticking and the tocking.
The Pendulum had first surprised him —
But now 't had surely hypnotized him.
With every tick and every nod
(So odd, so odd, so odd, so odd)
He gave a sudden little yelp;
But no one came to hold or help —
Or whistle, or provide a bone,
Or snap a finger, throw a stone,
Or do a thing upon the lists
Prescribed by psycho-therapists,
When Poodles or when Men get notions
From neurasthenical emotions.
And, since no Poodle can sustain
Existence on this mortal plain
Long by only yelps and nods,
He passed unto the Poodle-Gods.
The Pendulum observed his jerk,
But kept unflustered at its work.

MORAL

Don't get to looking at devices
That tend to cause a mental crisis.