Placid Pug, and Other Rhymes — Dirge for Defeated Candidates

DIRGE FOR DEFEATED CANDIDATES

|THE dreadful Dragon and the Unicorn, `Accustomed to be treated with respect, `And much annoyed by present-day neglect, Have sometimes wished they never had been born, `At least in any world so "unselect."

= Their non-existence being now a "fact" `Accepted by mankind's majority, `They naturally feel quite "up a tree."

They don't know what to do to counteract `These damned delusions of Democracy.

= Although they often walk out in the sun, `And show themselves in all important streets, `Although in fact they have their "regular beats," They're hardly ever seen by any one, `And get no notice in the "daily sheets."

= Although as signs they hang on various inns, `They find themselves irrevocably "out."

= [Illustration: 040] In vain they prance and caracole about, Even the tribute of "derisive grins" `Is now denied them in their final rout.

= Mere non-belief in his existence may `Seem, to one emptying a festive flagon `In the interior of the "Wasp and Wagon," A very trifling matter any way.

`But it is most annoying to the Dragon.

= The subject may appear beneath contempt `To one who holds the world's applause in scorn, `Preferring in a cloister to adorn "Illumined scrolls in heavenly colours dreamt," `But it is galling to the Unicorn.

POEM FOR THE PROUD

|SEEN in the mirror of the poet's dream, (Exclusively reserved for the "elect"), Each animal supplies us with a theme For wondering-admiration and respect.

Thus, to those men who truly modest seem Compare