Monkey And
Down in the hay Where and bear usually lay They woke a stable-boy's cry
He said; come quick! The got loose, got grass-sick! They'll founder! Fain, die
What is now known by the and the roan? By the chestnut, and the bay, and the gelding
It is: by the gate you are given And in your place, for your season And had the overfed but listened To high-fence, horse-sense, wisdom...
Did you hear that, Said monkey get out of here, fair and square They've left the open wide!
So My is my hand, where is your paw? Try and my plan, Ursala My heart is a Full of that's just, and earnest Now; you know that we unlearn this to a life of service And no answer to that heartless Hay-monger, nor be his (that charlatan, artless hustling!) Ursala, we've got to eat something And our keep, while still within The borders of the land man has girded (all and tight-fisted!) Until we the open country A-steeped in milk and
Will you your fancy clothes on, for me? Can you bear a little longer to wear that My love, I swear by the air I Sooner or later, bare your teeth
But for now, dance, darling C'mon, you dance, my darling? Darling, there's a for us Can we go, before I to dust? Oh my darling, a place for us Oh C'mon you dance, my darling? Oh, the hills are groaning excess Like a table ceaselessly set Oh my darling, we get there yet
trooped past the guards, Past the coops, and the fields, and the All night, till
The they gained grew Much farther the stone that bear threw To mark they'd stop for tea
But walk a faster And look backwards Your feast is to the East, which a little past the pasture
When the blackbirds hear tea whistling, they rise and And their caws the kettle black And we can't have of that!
Move along, Bear; there, there; that Though in plaster Our Ursala's heart faster monkey's ever will
But They got to pay the bills they? That is what the say
So, the courage of a clown, or a cur Or a kite, jerking tight at its In her gown of fur And her of swansdown and leather
Bear sway on her hind legs; The organ would grind dregs of song, for the Of the children, shriek Throwing coins at her recoiling in terror
Sing, dance, C'mon, will you dance, my Oh darling, there's a for us Can we go, before I to dust? Oh my darling, there's a for us
Oh C'mon, will you dance, my You your eyes fixed on the highest hill Where you'll ever-after eat your Oh my darling, dear, If you Dance, darling, and I you still
Deep in the Shone a and miserly light Where the monkey his lamp
Someone had him The bear had been A fair piece from where they were camped
had told him The bear'd been sneaking To the caverns, to bathe
And the thought troubled the For he was afraid of down in those caves
afraid what the village people would say If they saw the bear in state;
Lolling and obscenely Well, it seemed irrational, washing that face
Washing matted and flea-bit pelt In sea-spit-shine, old kelp dripping with brine
But monkey just laughed, and he When she comes back, Ursala will be bursting with
Till I up! Saying: been rolling in muck! you smell of garbage and grime!
But far out Far out By now By now Far out, by now, Bear 'Cause she not drown:
First the outside-legs of the Up and fell down, in the water, like garters
Then the of the bear Fell off, as easy as if sloughed from boiled
in a genteel curtsy Bear shed the of her diluvian shoulders;
And, a sigh, She allowed the burden of belly to like an apron full of boulders
If you hold up her threadbare Coat to the light where it's translucent in places
You'd see spots Almost every night of the year Bear had mending suspending that baseness
Now her coat drags through the Bagging, with a life's-worth of hunger, limitless
In the embrace Balletic and glacial of Bear's shadow;
there! there! When left Bear there! there! When stepped clear of Bear
or later you'll bury your teeth