The Happy Marriage and Other Poems/Chevaux de Bois
CHEVAUX DE BOIS
Who'll ride on the Merry-go-round!
Toot! Toot!
Who'll ride on the Merry-go-round!
Who'll undergo birth
For a whirl on the earth,
Who'll ride on the Merry-go-round!
Ump! Ump!
Who'll ride on the Merry-go-round!
You swing through unlimited space
With nothing to hold you in place,
You circle the sun
Till you're giddy with fun
And the nebulæ laugh in your face,
Toot! Toot!
And the nebulæ laugh in your face.
Three hundred and sixty-five twirls
To each of your annual whirls,
With a vortical moon
For a sort of balloon
And a meteorite in your curls,
Ump! Ump!
And a meteorite in your curls.
You can ride on the Pegasus steed,
Or the hobbledy horse on a lead;
It won't matter a bit
If you pull or you hit
There's only one possible speed,
Toot! Toot!
There's only one possible speed.
You can ride on the true lover's throne
With the lad or the lass that's your own,
You can laugh at the rest
In his arms,—on her breast,—
But you'll stop, when you stop, by your lone,
Ump! Ump!
But you'll stop, when you stop, by your lone.
You pay as you enter, my dear,
And you pay after that every year,
And you pay after that
When they pass the big hat,
And you pay when you leave, never fear,
Toot! Toot!
And you pay when you leave us, my dear.