There's tumult in the Forum, and the people onward press;
Androcles, now a criminal, is in a precious mess:
He's got to meet a lion, hungry, savage, and unchained;
And act Van Amburgh with a beast that never has been trained.
The Colosseum's rows are filled with citizens of mark—
Vespasian's amphitheatre, not the one in Regent's Park—
The tribunes and ὁι πολλοι are all making up their books,
Or drawing for a lion "sweep," with eager turfish looks.
The den is opened, horror reigns, no soul is heard to speak;
Androcles strikes an attitude, like Keller's _Poses Plastiques_;
When Nero, darting from his cage, no longer fierce and wild,
Takes up the doomed one in his arms as though he were a child;
And roars and dances gaily on his hind legs loud and long,
As we have seen the Nigger when he sings the Banjo song.
The criminal is innocent!—he need no longer stay;
And with the lion arm-in-arm he bows and walks away.—
And so long live Androcles, and the lion long live he;
And next time such a thing occurs, may we be there to see!
[Illustration:
LEO—Androcles and the Lion.
]
[Illustration]