Classic Poem

(An Apartmental Ditty)

Mine be a flat beside the Hill;
A vendor's cry shall soothe my ear.
A landlord shall present his bill
At least a dozen times a year.

The tenor, oft, below my flat,
Shall practise — Violets — and such;
And in the area a cat
Shall beat the bands, the cars, and Dutch!

Around the neighborhood shall be
About a hundred thousand kids;
And, eke in that vicinitee,
Ten pianolas without lids.

And mornings, I suppose, by gosh,
I'll be awakened prompt at seven,
By ladies hanging up the wash
Only a mile or so from heaven.

The sparrows that have built their nest
Ten feet from where one takes one's rest,
And 'gin their merry, blithesome song
Each morning — quenchless, clear and strong
Promptly at four o'clock.