Page:The poems of John Godfrey Saxe.djvu/447

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ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE.
427
With the rest of his crew,—it's no matter how;While old Polyphemus, until he was dead,—Which was n't till many years after, 't is said,—Had a grief in his heart and a hole in his head!
MORAL.
Don't use strong drink,—pray let me advise,—It 's bad for the stomach, and ruins the eyes;Don't impose upon sailors with land-lubber tricks,Or you 'll catch it some day like a thousand of bricks!

ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE.

Sir Orpheus, whom the poets have sungIn every metre and every tongue,Was, you may remember, a famous musician,—At least for a youth in his pagan condition,—For historians tell he played on his shellFrom morning till night, so remarkably wellThat his music created a regular spellOn trees and stones in forest and dell!What sort of an instrument his could beIs really more than is known to me,—For none of the books have told, d' ye see!It's very certain those heathen "swells"Knew nothing at all of oyster-shells,And it's clear Sir Orpheus never could own aShell like those they make in Cremona;But whatever it was, to "move the stones"It must have shelled out some powerful tones,And entitled the player to rank in my rhymeAs the very Vieuxtemps of the very old time!
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