Classic Poem

My good Aunt Bridget, spite of age,
Versed in Valerian, Dock, and Sage,
Well knew the virtues of herbs;
But Proverbs gain'd her chief applause,
" Child, " she exclaim'd, " respect old saws,
And pin your faith on Proverbs. "

Thus taught, I dubb'd my lot secure;
And playing long-rope, " slow and sure, "
Conceived my movement clever.
When lo! an urchin by my side
Push'd me head foremost in, and cried
" Keep Moving, " " Now or Never. "

At Melton next I join'd the hunt,
Of bogs and bushes bore the brunt,
Nor once my courser held in;
But when I saw a yawning steep,
I thought of " Look before you leap, "
And curb'd my eager geldin.

While doubtful thus I rein'd my roan,
Willing to save a fractured bone,
Yet fearful to exposure;
A sportsman thus my spirit stirr'd —
" Delays are dangerous, " — I spurr'd
My steed, and leap'd th' enclosure.

I ogled Jane, who heard me say,
That " Rome was not built in a day, "
When lo! Sir Fleet O'Grady
Put this, my saw, to sea again,
And proved, by running off with Jane,
" Faint heart ne'er won fair Lady. "

Aware " New Brooms sweep clean, " I took
An untaught tyro for a cook,
(The tale I tell a fact is;)
She spoilt my soup: but, when I chid,
She thus once more my work undid
" Perfection comes from Practice. "

Thus, out of every adage hit,
And, finding that ancestral wit
As changeful as the clime is:
From Proverbs, turning on my heel,
I now cull Wisdom from my seal,
Whose motto's " Ne quid mmis. "