Classic Poem

WHEN C HURCHILL wrote, th' Aonian maid
He served was scarce of speech afraid;
She used no phrase to circumvent
The homely article she meant,
But plainly called a spade a spade.

Nor was the public much dismayed.
He but his age's law obeyed; —
They liked to see the bludgeon's dent
When C HURCHILL wrote.

'Tis not so now. To-day the trade
Demands the finest Sheffield blade;
We use a subtler instrument;
We cut for depth and not extent ...
But would 'twere ours — the Mark they made —
When C HURCHILL wrote.