Classic Poem

The pearl for the first, for the second the cover.
O William Wisetzki, your life was soon over —
But the kitten, the kitten was saved.

He climbed the plank, but it split asunder,
And drowned he lay in the water under —
But the kitten, the kitten was saved.

We followed his bier: the boy of our love;
They laid him where May flowers bloomed above —
But the kitten, the kitten was saved.

Ah, wise were you who a shelter won
Ere the storms of life were well begun —
But the kitten, the kitten was saved.

Ah yes, you were wise to escape so quick;
You were cured of your ills before you fell sick —
But the kitten, the kitten was saved.

As my years have mounted, more and more
I have thought of you sadly, and envied you sore —
But the kitten, the kitten was saved.

Nothing is perfect in this world. The rose
Still by the wounding thorn companioned grows.
Yea, I believe, above in heaven's brightness
The angels have some flaw to mar their whiteness.

The tulip has no scent; and by the Rhine
They say " Even Honesty hath stolen swine. "
Had not Lucretia stabbed herself, dishonour
And childbirth pangs had doubtless come upon her.

The haughty peacock has ungainly feet.
The wittiest woman can, for dulness, beat
Klopstock's Messiah , or at times can weary
Like Voltaire's Henriade , which is as dreary.

The Venus of Canova, viewed behind,
Is far too flat, like Massmann's nose, you'll find.
Spanish not even the wisest cow is pat in,
And Massmann knows as little, or less, Latin.

Why, Alexander Dumas's a quadroon;
Stings lurk in virgin honey; many a tune
By a bad rhyme is spoilt, that else most sweet is;
His fatal heel undid the son of Thetis.

In Heaven's canopy the star most bright,
When it has caught a cold, sinks from our sight;
The primest cider keeps the barrel's flavour;
Black spots deface the sun, and mar his favour.

And you, dear Madam, cannot hope to be
From every flaw and every blemish free.
You stare, and ask, " What fails? " — Ah, might you win it! —
Only a bosom, and a soul within it.