H.M.S. "PINAFORE"
I don't see at what you're driving,
Mystic lady—mystic lady!
Having discovered that this sort of rhyming was much easier than it appeared at first sight to be, he determined to show her that other people were just as smart as she was, and (if you come to that) even a little bit smarter.
So he began:
Though I'm anything but clever,
I could talk like that for ever.
Once a cat was killed with care:
Only brave deserve the fair.
Very true,
So they do.
said Little Buttercup (mimicking his own way of replying to her). The Captain continued:
Wink is often good as nod;
Spoils the child who spares the rod;
Thirsty lambs run foxy dangers;
Dogs are found in many mangers.
Here he paused to consider what he should say next, and Little Buttercup (to give him time) said, just as before:
Frequentlee,
I agree.
By this time the Captain had thought of something more:
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