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Thomas Hardy

Thomas Hardy

The Sergeant’s Song

WHEN Lawyers strive to heal a breach,
    And Parsons practise what they preach;
    Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down,
    And march his men on London town!
       Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lorum,
       Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lay!
 
    When Justices hold equal scales,
    And Rogues are only found in jails;
    Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down,
    And march his men on London town!
       Rollicum-rorum, etc.
 
    When Rich Men find their wealth a curse,
    And fill therewith the Poor Man’s purse;
    Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down,
    And march his men on London town!
       Rollicum-rorum, etc.
 
    When Husbands with their Wives agree,
    And Maids won’t wed from modesty;
    Then Little Boney he’ll pounce down,
    And march his men on London town!
       Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lorum,
       Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lay!

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Other works by Thomas Hardy...
At Moonrise and Onwards

I thought you a fire On Heron-Plantation Hill, Dealing out mischief the most dire To the chattels of men of hire There in their vill.
The Problem

Shall we conceal the Case, or tel…    We who believe the evidence?    Here and there the watch-towers…    With a sullen significance, Heard of the few who hearken inten…
George Meredith

Forty years back, when much had pl… That since has perished out of min… I heard that voice and saw that fa… He spoke as one afoot will wind A morning horn ere men awake;
Zermatt to the Matterhorn.

Thirty-two years since, up against… Seven shapes, thin atomies to lowe… Labouringly leapt and gained thy g… And four lives paid for what the s… They were the first by whom the de…
The Sun on the Bookcase

Once more the cauldron of the sun Smears the bookcase with winy red, And here my page is, and there my… And the apple-tree shadows travel… Soon their intangible track will b…
Channel Firing

That night your great guns, unawar… Shook all our coffins as we lay, And broke the chancel window—squar… We thought it was the Judgment—da… And sat upright. While drearisome
A Commonplace Day

The day is turning ghost, And scuttles from the kalendar in…    To join the anonymous host Of those that throng oblivion; ced…    To one of like degree.
The Temporary the All

CHANGE and chancefulness in my… Set me sun by sun near to one unch… Wrought us fellowly, and despite d… Friends interblent us. “Cherish him can I while the true…
Amabel

I MARKED her ruined hues, Her custom-straitened views, And asked, “Can there indwell My Amabel?” I looked upon her gown,
God’s Funeral

I saw a slowly-stepping train— Lined on the brows, scoop-eyed and… Following in files across a twilit… A strange and mystic form the fore… II
The Cheval

Why do you harbour that great chev… Filling up your narrow room? You never preen or plume, Or look in a week at your full—len… Picture of bachelor gloom!
A Broken Appointment

You did not come, And marching Time drew on, and wo… Yet less for loss of your dear pre… Than that I thus found lacking in… That high compassion which can ove…
 1
Catullus: XXXI

(After passing Sirmione, April 18… Sirmio, thou dearest dear of stran… That Neptune strokes in lake and… With what high joy from stranger l… Doth thy old friend set foot on th…
 1
Shelley’s Skylark.

Somewhere afield here something li… In Earth’s oblivious eyeless trus… That moved a poet to prophecies - A pinch of unseen, unguarded dust The dust of the lark that Shelley…
Before and After Summer

Looking forward to the spring One puts up with anything. On this February day, Though the winds leap down the str… Wintry scourgings seem but play,



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