TO MARIE

TO MARIE

  When the breeze from the bluebottle's blustering blim
      Twirls the toads in a tooroomaloo,
  And the whiskery whine of the wheedlesome whim
      Drowns the roll of the rattatattoo,
  Then I dream in the shade of the shally-go-shee,
      And the voice of the bally-molay
  Brings the smell of stale poppy-cods blummered in blee
      From the willy-wad over the way.

  Ah, the shuddering shoo and the blinketty-blanks
      When the yungalung falls from the bough
  In the blast of a hurricane's hicketty-hanks
      On the hills of the hocketty-how!
  Give the rigamarole to the clangery-whang,
      If they care for such fiddlededee;
  But the thingumbob kiss of the whangery-bang
      Keeps the higgledy-piggle for me.

  It is pilly-po-doddle and aligobung
      When the lollypop covers the ground,
  Yet the poldiddle perishes punketty-pung
      When the heart jimmy-coggles around.
  If the soul cannot snoop at the giggle-some cart,
      Seeking surcease in gluggety-glug,
  It is useless to say to the pulsating heart,
      "Panky-doodle ker-chuggetty-chug!"

John Bennett.