Page:Complete Works of Lewis Carroll.djvu/807

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Early Verse
787
MISUNDERSTANDINGS
If such a thing had been my thought,I should have told you so before,But as I didn't, then you oughtTo ask for such a thing no more,For to teach one who has been taughtIs always thought an awful bore.
Now to commence my argument,I shall premise an observation.On which the greatest kings have leantWhen striving to subdue a nation,And e'en the wretch who pays no rentBy it can solve a hard equation.
Its truth is such, the force of reasonCan not avail to shake its power,Yet e'en the sun in summer seasonDoth not dispel so mild a showerAs this, and he who sees it, sees onBeyond it to a sunny bower—No more, when ignorance is treason,Let wisdom's brows be cold and sour.
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