. . . a poem learnt by heart at school and never forgotten:
A PIPER by Seamus O'Sullivan
A piper
in the streets today
Set up, and tuned, and started to play,
And away, away, away on the tide
Of his music we started;
on every side
Doors and windows flung open wide,
And men left down their work and came,
And women with petticoats
coloured like flame.
And little bare feet that were blue with cold,
Went dancing back to the age of gold,
And all
the world went gay, went gay,
For half an hour in the street today.
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and another short poem with unique appeal that harks back to an earlier
time:
A JACOBITE TOAST by John Byrom
God bless the King, I mean the faith's Defender;
God bless - no harm in blessing - the Pretender;
But who Pretender is, or who is King,
God bless us all - that's quite another thing.
(sorry, I see no way to control the awful gaps appearing between the lines in this last
poem)