Well, I've decided (after much debate within myself between the logical, the irrational, the smart, the witty, the stupid, the shy, and the insane parts of me...[which is another story...my debates can be quite interesting to listen to....]) to introduce to you blokes a wonderful favorite poem of mine. It was written by a wonderful dude called "Robert Browning". He was born in 1812, and he died, unfortunately, before I could meet him, in 1889...about 100 years before I was even thought of...
I'm introducing to you the first two verses of this loverly poem, which is called, by the way, "The Pied Piper of Hamelin"
I.
Hamelin Town's in Brunswick,
By famous Hanover city;
The river Weser, deep and wide,
Washes its wall on the southern side;
A pleasanter spot you never spied;
But, when begins my ditty,
Almost five hundred years ago,
To see the townsfolk suffer so
From vermin, was a pity.
II.
Rats!
They fought the dogs and killed the cats,
And bit the babies in the cradles,
And ate the cheeses out of the vats,
And licked the soup from the cooks' own ladles,
Split open the kegs of salted sprats,
Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,
And even spoiled the women's chats,
By drowning their speaking
With shrieking and squeaking
In fifty different sharps and flats.
There are 15 verses, and if you'd like a magnificent illustrated version, go to this awesome website: http://www.indiana.edu/~librcsd/etext/piper/05.html
If you want just the poem, go to this website: http://www.indiana.edu/~librcsd/etext/piper/text.html
It is a wonderful poem! Or should I say story-poem...(It's not necessarily an epic, because it ain't a story of a hero and his adventures...)
1 comment:
Okay... yes, I admit it. I'm going through ALL your blogs and reading them. And since this post is way back in your archives, the chances of you seeing this comment is pretty low, but still.
I had to say that I grew up with the Pied Piper. I had an illustrated version of the poem and the Piper was always dressed in a red and yellow vertical striped suit and a jester's hat.
It kind of scared me.
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