Classic Poem

" La belle Sou-Chong-The, au claire de pleine Lune. " — Paul V ERVILLE

F AIR Sou-Chong-Tee, by a shimmering brook
Where ghost-like lilies loomed tall and straight,
Met young Too-Hi, in a moonlit nook,
Where they cooed and kissed till the hour was late:
Then, with lanterns, a mandarin passed in state,
Named Hoo-Hung-Hoo of the Golden Band,
Who had wooed the maiden to be his mate, —
For these things occur in the Flowery Land.

Now, Hoo-hung-Hoo had written a book,
In seven volumes, to celebrate
The death of the Emperor's thirteenth cook:
So, being a person whose power was great,
He ordered a herald to indicate
He would blind Too-Hi with a red-hot brand
And marry Sou-Chong at a quarter-past eight, —
For these things occur in the Flowery Land.

Whilst the brand was heating, the lovers shook
In their several shoes, — when by lucky fate
A Dragon came, with his tail in a crook, —
A Dragon out of a Nankeen Plate, —
And gobbled the hard-hearted potentate
And all of his servants, and snorted, and
Passed on at a super-cyclonic rate, —
For these things occur in the Flowery Land.

The lovers were wed at an early date,
And lived for the future, I understand,
In one continuous tête-a-tête, —
For these things occur . . . in the Flowery Land.