(_Suggested by the almost invariable form of the last sentence in the
Weather Report._)
Ye watchers of the wind and rain,
Forgive me for becoming nettled
By your monotonous refrain:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
When, on a bright and sunlit morn,
I rise refreshed and finely fettled
Your cue is not to cheer but warn:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
They are too rare, these halcyon days,
When earth's a paradise rose-petalled,
For you to chill us with a phrase:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
Too often have I shirked the goal
At which (as Scotsmen say) I ettled,
Discouraged by your words of dole:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
For instance, lately I resigned
A trip to Shetland to be shettled;
Your menace made me change my mind:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
Henceforth I'm going to defy
You and your breed, inert, unmettled,
Who chant that sad Cassandra cry:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
Ay, if I held untrammelled sway
I'd have you bottled up and kettled
Like djinns, until you ceased to say:
"The further outlook is unsettled."
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[Illustration: MAJOR-GENERAL X AT THE FRONT IN 1918--]
[Illustration: AND ON THE BRIGHTON ROAD IN 1920.]
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