Classic Poem

A LION wont to cower beneath the whip,
Within whose jaws the trainer oft would slip
His hand unharmed, forgot its gentle ways
And showed the fury of its Libyan days.
Two boys belonging to the youthful band,
Who with their rakes smooth out the bloody sand,
The savage beast with fangs accursed slew —
A greater crime the circus never knew.
Well might we cry — " Thou cruel thief, forbear.
Learn from our Roman wolf young lives to spare."