Page:Anacreontics.djvu/47

ANACREONTICS.

But the punch that J. T. Johnston made was the punch of all the punches.
The great Panurge went under ground,^[1] so says his curious story,
And there a wondrous sign he found, St. Bottle in his glory,
It stirred his mighty wits to song, a song which I'm afraid is
A bit too broad, though none too long, to sing before the ladies.
There was a better oracle for Johnston's congregation,
For it required no priest to tell a word of explanation;^[2]

 

1. See Rabelais, book v., ch. 44–5.
   
2. As the priest Bacbuc was required to explain the oracle of the Holy Bottle. By the way, St. Bottles has a church to this day in Cambridge (England). The name is sometimes erroneously written Botulph's.

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