BALLADE OF BICYCLING
LITTLE use to weep over a spill,
When you chance to collide with a chap
In a cart at the foot of a hill,
Or a clergyman out in a trap ;
It is better to meet a mishap
With philosophy noble and sound,
And steer for Fortunia’s lap :
“ Hi, Mister, your wheel’s goin’ round !”
Though Jack may be followed by Jill,
On the slope, a man’s claret to tap ;
There’s a way that is made by a will,
Like a river turned on from a tap.
You may cover the whole of the map,
Your face with the sunlight is browned,
You smile when boys shout, with a clap,!
Hi, Mister, your wheel’s goin’ round !”
Thus good is the converse of ill
(Such truths are the moralist’s pap),
And turbot makes excellent brill ;
Verse goes with a tang and a snap.
1 The phrase is adverbial.