Classic Poem

Revolt against these chronologic laws,
That would be madness, lunacy of course.
(What next! to go to Bedlam for your bottom,
Or have your neighbours stutter out " he's got 'em"!)
Swag up the Back where the bold Front should stand —
Propose to reverse the dribble of Time's sand.
It will be borne in upon you promptly how
You cannot play with Time the bull and cow,
Cannot blow hot and cold, or pick and choose,
Or toss for heads and tails — you must always lose:
You are the tail, you cannot be the head,
We One-ways are to one-side limited! —
But Back-to-the-engine travellers provide
Perhaps the paradigm for those off-side,
Or such to outwit this tide's portentous flow
Who turn their backs upon the way they go.
Were we to cast about for instances
Fool-proof to illustrate our point with these,
Why then those Back-to-the-engine guys afford
The best of pictures for our child's black-board.