"Good-morrow!" the youth to the Woodcutter cried;
"Father WILLIAM, you're 'sniggling,' I see!"
With a smile of bland 'cuteness the Old Man replied,
"Master WILLIAM, good morrow! I _be_!"
"You are old, Father WILLIAM," the young KAISER said,
"And your hair, what there is of it, 's white;
And yet you still stand at the Government's head--
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
"Some twenty years since," Father WILLIAM replied,
"I'd a passionate wish to retire;
But as I grow younger each year, I have tried
To subdue that untimely desire."
"You are old," said the youth, "yet your seat appears firm,
You are still pretty good over timber;
Your double back somersaults make your foes squirm.
What keeps you so nimble and limber?"
"In my youth," said the Senior, "I kept all my limbs--
And some say my principles--supple;
And that's why old age neither stiffens nor dims,
And years with alertness I couple."
"You are old," said the youth, "and your 'jaw' should be weak,
I've often heard BIZZY pooh-pooh it.
Yet you polish off JOE, and tap GOSCHEN'S big beak;
Pray, how do you manage to do it?"
"In _my_ youth," said the Sage, "Fair Debate was the law,
And genuine Eloquence rife;
And so in an age of mere Brummagem 'jaw'
I can still hold my own in the strife."
"You are old," said the youth; "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balance that eel on the end of your nose--
What makes you so awfully clever?"
"_You_ are young," smiled old WILL; "you don't yet understand.
The point--of the eel--you'd be missing;
But when you're an Old Parliamentary Hand
You will find it as easy as kissing!"
"I've caught an eel, also," observed the young 'sniggler,'
"_I_'m not, like you, beaked _a la_ Toucan;
Mine's still smaller than yours, and a terrible wriggler;
I wish I could work it as _you_ can!"
"The equilibrist's art," the Old Juggler replied,
"Is not to be learned in a jiffy.
With the help of your Eyes (_Ayes_), and your Nose (_Noes_), and good 'side,'
You _may_ win--if you do not turn 'squiffy.'"
"That is not said right," said the Caterpillar of State.
"Not _quite_ right, I'm afraid," said ALICE, timidly; "some of the
words have got altered."
"It is wrong from beginning to end," said the Caterpillar, decidedly;
and there was silence for some minutes.
[Illustration: "FATHER WILLIAM."
"YOU ARE OLD," SAID THE YOUTH; "ONE WOULD HARDLY SUPPOSE
THAT YOUR EYE WAS AS STEADY AS EVER;
YET YOU BALANCE THAT EEL ON THE END OF YOUR NOSE--
WHAT MAKES YOU SO AWFULLY CLEVER?"
]
* * * * *