H.M.S. "PINAFORE"
(It was an easy rhyme, suited to a mere beginner.)
Black sheep dwell in every fold; (said she)
All that glitters is not gold;
Storks turn out to be but logs;
Bulls are but inflated frogs.
The captain thought he could do as well as this, but he considered that it was best to confine himself at present to quite easy rhymes, so he said:
So they be
Frequentlee.
Buttercup resumed:
Drops the wind and stops the mill;
Turbot is ambitious brill;
Gild the farthing if you will,
But it is a farthing still.
The Captain replied:
Yes, I know
That is so.
Then, beginning to feel his feet, as the saying is, he ventured into deeper water:
Though to catch your drift I'm striving,
It is shady—it is shady.
(He repeated "it is shady" to give him time to think of the next rhyme, though he pretended that the repetition was part of the structure of the verse.)
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