General Summary

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      We are very slightly changed

       From the semi-apes who ranged

       India's prehistoric clay;

       Whoso drew the longest bow,

       Ran his brother down, you know,

       As we run men down today.

      "Dowb," the first of all his race,

       Met the Mammoth face to face

       On the lake or in the cave,

       Stole the steadiest canoe,

       Ate the quarry others slew,

       Died—and took the finest grave.

      When they scratched the reindeer-bone

       Someone made the sketch his own,

       Filched it from the artist—then,

       Even in those early days,

       Won a simple Viceroy's praise

       Through the toil of other men.

      Ere they hewed the Sphinx's visage

       Favoritism governed kissage,

       Even as it does in this age.

      Who shall doubt the secret hid

       Under Cheops' pyramid

       Was that the contractor did

       Cheops out of several millions?

       Or that Joseph's sudden rise

       To Comptroller of Supplies

       Was a fraud of monstrous size

       On King Pharoah's swart Civilians?

      Thus, the artless songs I sing

       Do not deal with anything

       New or never said before.

      As it was in the beginning,

       Is today official sinning,

       And shall be forevermore.

Army Headquarters

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      Old is the song that I sing—

       Old as my unpaid bills—

       Old as the chicken that kitmutgars bring

       Men at dak-bungalows—old as the Hills.

      Ahasuerus Jenkins of the "Operatic Own"

       Was dowered with a tenor voice of super-Santley tone.

      His views on equitation were, perhaps, a trifle queer;

       He had no seat worth mentioning, but oh! he had an ear.

      He clubbed his wretched company a dozen times a day,

       He used to quit his charger in a parabolic way,

       His method of saluting was the joy of all beholders,

       But Ahasuerus Jenkins had a head upon his shoulders.

      He took two months to Simla when the year was at the spring,

       And underneath the deodars eternally did sing.

      He warbled like a bulbul, but particularly at

       Cornelia Agrippina who was musical and fat.

      She controlled a humble husband, who, in turn, controlled a Dept.,

       Where Cornelia Agrippina's human singing-birds were kept

       From April to October on a plump retaining fee,

       Supplied, of course, per mensem, by the Indian Treasury.

      Cornelia used to sing with him, and Jenkins used to play;

       He praised unblushingly her notes, for he was false as they:

       So when the winds of April turned the budding roses brown,

       Cornelia told her husband: "Tom, you mustn't send him down."

      They haled him from his regiment which didn't much regret him;

       They found for him an office-stool, and on that stool they set him,

       To play with maps and catalogues three idle hours a day,

       And draw his plump retaining fee—which means his double pay.

      Now, ever after dinner, when the coffeecups are brought,

       Ahasuerus waileth o'er the grand pianoforte;

       And, thanks to fair Cornelia, his fame hath waxen great,

       And Ahasuerus Jenkins is a power in the State.

Study of an Elevation, in Indian Ink

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      This ditty is a string of lies.

       But—how the deuce did Gubbins rise?

      POTIPHAR GUBBINS, C. E.,

       Stands at the top of the tree;

       And I muse in my bed on the reasons that led

       To the hoisting of Potiphar G.

      Potiphar Gubbins, C. E.,

       Is seven years junior to Me;

       Each bridge that he makes he either buckles or breaks,

       And his work is as rough as he.

      Potiphar Gubbins, C. E.,

       Is coarse as a chimpanzee;

       And I can't understand why you gave him your hand,

       Lovely Mehitabel Lee.

      Potiphar Gubbins, C. E.,

       Is dear to the Powers that Be;

       For They bow and They smile in an affable style

       Which is seldom accorded to Me.

      Potiphar Gubbins, C. E.,

       Is certain as certain can be

       Of a highly-paid post which is claimed by a host

       Of seniors—including Me.

      Careless and lazy is he,

       Greatly inferior to Me.

      What is the spell that you manage so well,

       Commonplace Potiphar G.?

      Lovely Mehitabel Lee,

       Let me inquire of thee,

       Should I have riz to what Potiphar is,

       Hadst thou been mated to me?

A Legend

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      This is the reason why Rustum Beg,