Classic Poem

( A story with an Application )

In the good old times, as most men view it, —
Though I could ne'er see how they do it, —
When Wisdom begged at Riches' gate,
And hardly then got what she ate,
A certain king kept at his court
A philosopher to aid his sport,
And, when he would a hunting go,
To tell him if 'twould rain or no.

One day, with promise of fine weather,
The king and courtiers ride together,
With knights and ladies, — a gay band, —
And each with hooded hawk on hand.
By chance, they meet a country John
Riding a dappled ass upon,
Who warned them by his donkey's ears
'Twas going to rain; but the ready jeers
Of th' eager hunters cried him down, —
A sage is wiser than a clown!
But they had hardly reached the wood
When all were drenched by the pouring flood.
The king rode back with wrathful look,
Till he the countryman o'ertook;
And, learning the wisdom of the ass
Whose ears foretold what came to pass,
Turned the philosopher out in disgrace,
And put th' intellectual ass in his place.

Moral

Oh, could he have known the fruits of his deed,
Of so rash an act he'd have taken more heed!
The result of his making high places a scoff is —
Every ass in creation is seeking for office.