The Merry Bard

1811 –

1863

  ZULEIKAH!  The young Agas in the bazaar are slim-wasted and wear
  yellow slippers.  I am old and hideous.  One of my eyes is out, and
  the hairs of my beard are mostly gray.  Praise be to Allah!  I am a
  merry bard.

  There is a bird upon the terrace of the Emir's chief wife.  Praise
  be to Allah!  He has emeralds on his neck, and a ruby tail.  I am a
  merry bard.  He deafens me with his diabolical screaming.

  There is a little brown bird in the basket-maker's cage.  Praise be
  to Allah!  He ravishes my soul in the moonlight.  I am a merry bard.

  The peacock is an Aga, but the little bird is a Bulbul.

  I am a little brown Bulbul.  Come and listen in the moonlight.
  Praise be to Allah!  I am a merry bard.

This poem is in the public domain.

At the Zoo

First I saw the white bear, then I saw the black;
Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back;
Then I saw the grey wolf, with mutton in his maw;
Then I saw the wombat waddle in the straw;
Then I saw the elephant a-waving of his trunk;
Then I saw the monkeys—mercy, how unpleasantly they smelt!

William Makepeace Thackeray

1863

The King of Yvetot

There was a king of Yvetot, Of whom renown hath little said, Who let all thoughts of glory go, And dawdled half his days a-bed; And every night, as night came round, By Jenny, with a nightcap crowned, Slept very sound: Sing ho, ho, ho! and he, he, he! That's the kind of king for me. And every day it came to pass, That four lusty meals made he; And, step by step, upon an ass, Rode abroad, his realms to see; And wherever he did stir, What think you was his escort, sir? Why, an old cur. Sing ho, ho, ho !

William Makepeace Thackeray

2018

The Garret

     With pensive eyes the little room I view,
       Where, in my youth, I weathered it so long;
     With a wild mistress, a stanch friend or two,
       And a light heart still breaking into song:
     Making a mock of life, and all its cares,
       Rich in the glory of my rising sun,
     Lightly I vaulted up four pair of stairs,
       In the brave days when I was twenty-one.

     Yes; 'tis a garret—let him know't who will—
       There was my bed—full hard it was and small.
     My table there—and I decipher still
       Half a lame couplet charcoaled on the wall.
     Ye joys,

William Makepeace Thackeray

2018

Poems

The Merry Bard

More by this poet

At the Zoo

The King of Yvetot

The Garret

Poems

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The Merry Bard

More by this poet

At the Zoo

The King of Yvetot

The Garret

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