Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/486

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
468
MONSIEUR KANIFERSTANE.
"No doubt you have a conscience good, Nor do I mean to shock it;But pilgrim, when you call again, Bring money in your pocket."
Monsieur Kaniferstane.
Once on a time a little French marquis For travel felt a mighty inclination,To show himself, and foreign parts to see, He undertook a bold peregrination.At Dieppe he found a sloop just under weigh, By Dutchmen manned, and bound for Amsterdam;Wind and tide serving, off he sails away, And soon sea-sick, beyond finesse or sham,Close in the cabin he preferred to nestle; There, faint and languid, for a space he dozed,Till from the increased commotion in the vessel, That land might be in sight he well supposed;So to the deck he climbed, with empty maw,And sure enough Dutch terra firma saw.
While in the cabin sick and sad he lay, Though a true Frenchman, he ne'er dreamt of talking;But when on deck, his spirits grew more gay, And his blood 'gan to circulate with walking;He recollected that he had a tongue. Now though a Frenchman French with ease can jabber,And doubtless thinks all other ears are hung Like those he left at home, yet a Dutch swabberIs apt enough no other speech to knowThan that which first he learned from Mother Frow.
Such was the case with all the trunk-hosed crew: The marquis, struck with wonder and delight,Enraptured gazed on objects all so new. At length a sumptuous palace caught his sight,Which, proudly rising from the water's side, Showed its new-painted front, with flowerets gay,While trim responsive gardens, spreading wide, Displayed Dutch taste in regular array.Anxious to know who owned the pleasing scene, The marquis, bowing with a grinning face,Demanded of a tar, in French I ween, To whom belonged that most enchanting place.
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.