New Chum And Old Monarch
-Chieftain, enter my verandah;
Sit not in the blinding glare;
Thou shalt have a refuge, and a
Remnant of my household fare.
-Ill becomes thy princely haunches
Such a seat upon the ground:
Doubtless on a throne of branches
Thou hast sat, banana-crowned.
-By the brazen tablet gleaming
On the darkness of thy breast,
Which, unto all outward seeming,
Serves for trousers, coat, and vest;-
-By the words thereon engraven,
Of thy royal rank the gage,
Hail! true King, in all things save in
Unessential acreage.
-Such divinity doth hedge thee,
I had guessed thy rank with ease-
Such divinity-(but edge thee
Somewhat more to leeward, please).
-Though thy lineage I know not,
Thou art to the manner born;
Every inch a king, although not
King of one square barleycorn.
-Enter, sire; no longer linger;
Cease thy signals grandly dumb:
Point not thus with royal finger
To thy hungry vacuum.
-Though thy pangs are multifarious,
Soon they all shall pass away:
Come, my begging Belisarius-
Belisorious I should say.
-Fear not; I am the intruder;
I, and white men such as I:
Simpler though thou art, and ruder,
Thou art heir of earth and sky.
-Thine the mountain, thine the river,
Thine the endless miles of scrub:
Shall I grudge thee, then-oh never!-
Useless ends of refuse grub?
-Lay aside thy spears-(I doubt them),
Lay aside thy tomahawk;
I prefer thee, sire, without them,
By a somewhat longish chalk.
-Lay aside thy nullah-nullahs;
Is there war betwixt us two?
Soon the pipe of peace shall lull us-
Pipe a-piece, bien entendu.
-Seat thee in this canvas chair here;
Heed not thou the slumbering hound;
Fear not; all is on the square here,
Though thou strangely lookest round.
-Or if thou, my chair deriding,
Follow thine ancestral bent,
To the naked floor subsiding
Down the groove of precedent,-
-If the boards have more temptation,
Wherefore should I say thee No,
Seeing caudal induration
Must have set in long ago?
-Take thou now this refuse mince-meat;
Pick this bone, my regal guest:
Shall a fallen warrior-prince meet
Other welcome than the best?
-Treated like a very rebel,
Chased from town at set of sun,
Wert thou ev'n the debbil-debbil,
Thou shouldst eat-when I am done.â?
On the bare floor sat the sable
Chieftain of a fallen race,
Two black knees his only table,
-Wai-a-rooâ? his simple grace.
Stood I by and ruminated
On the chief's Decline and Fall,
While his highness masticated
What I gave him, bone and all.
-Chief,â? said I, when all had vanished,
-Fain am I thou shouldst relate
Why thou roam'st discrowned and banished
From thy scrub-palatinate.â?
Stared the chief, and wildly muttered,
As if words refused to come;
-Want him rum,â? at length he uttered;
-Black f'lo plenty like him rum!â?
-Nay! 'Twill make thee mad-demoniac!
Set thee all a-fire within!
Law forbids thee rum and cognac,
Though in mercy spares thy gin.
-Come; thy tale, if thou hast any.â?-
Forth the chieftain stretched his hand,
Stood erect, and shouted -Penny!â?
In a voice of stern command.
-Out upon thee! savage squalid!
Mine ideal thus to crush,
With thy beggary gross and solid,
All for money and for lush!
-Out upon thee! prince degenerate!
Get thee to thy native scrub!
Die a dog's death!-or, at any rate,
Trouble me no more for grub!
-At him, Ginger! Up and at him!
Go it, lad! On, Ginger, on!
King, indeed! the beggar! . . Drat him!
One more fond illusion gone.â?
James Brunton Stephens
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