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POEM OF THE WEEK

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Dicken's birth this week:

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A fine Old English Gentleman

I'll sing you a new ballad, and I'll warrant it first-rate,
Of the days of that old gentleman who had that old estate;
When they spent the public money at a bountiful old rate
On ev'ry mistress, pimp, and scamp, at ev'ry noble gate,
In the fine old English Tory times;
Soon may they come again!

The good old laws were garnished well with gibbets, whips, and chains,
With fine old English penalties, and fine old English pains,
With rebel heads, and seas of blood once hot in rebel veins;
For all these things were requisite to guard the rich old gains
Of the fine old English Tory times;
Soon may they come again!

This brave old code, like Argus, had a hundred watchful eyes,
And ev'ry English peasant had his good old English spies,
To tempt his starving discontent with fine old English lies,
Then call the good old Yeomanry to stop his peevish cries,
In the fine old English Tory times;
Soon may they come again!

The good old times for cutting throats that cried out in their need,
The good old times for hunting men who held their fathers' creed,
The good old times when William Pitt, as all good men agreed,
Came down direct from Paradise at more than railroad speed. . . .
Oh the fine old English Tory times;
When will they come again!

In those rare days, the press was seldom known to snarl or bark,
But sweetly sang of men in pow'r, like any tuneful lark;
Grave judges, too, to all their evil deeds were in the dark;
And not a man in twenty score knew how to make his mark.
Oh the fine old English Tory times;
Soon may they come again!

Those were the days for taxes, and for war's infernal din;
For scarcity of bread, that fine old dowagers might win;
For shutting men of letters up, through iron bars to grin,
Because they didn't think the Prince was altogether thin,
In the fine old English Tory times;
Soon may they come again!

But Tolerance, though slow in flight, is strong-wing'd in the main;
That night must come on these fine days, in course of time was plain;
The pure old spirit struggled, but Its struggles were in vain;
A nation's grip was on it, and it died in choking pain,
With the fine old English Tory days,
All of the olden time.

The bright old day now dawns again; the cry runs through the land,
In England there shall be dear bread -- in Ireland, sword and brand;
And poverty, and ignorance, shall swell the rich and grand,
So, rally round the rulers with the gentle iron hand,
Of the fine old English Tory days; Hail to the coming time!

Charles Dickens

NEXT ON STAGE:

Friday 24th February 2012, 5pm - Oxford Playhouse - Around the World in 80 Poems

Live Canon are back at the Oxford Playhouse to circumnavigate the globe in poetry. With classic poems from every continent and contemporary work from all cultures, performed in English translation, this is a whirlwind romp around the planet. With haiku balloons, poems in fortune cookies, verses on maps and luggage labels... this is an entertaining and accessible world tour.

BOOK HERE

Coming up:

Live Canon's Big Olympic Warm Up, on tour throughout the UK

Pre Raphaelites and Around the World in 80 Poems at the Bloomsbury Theatre Studio

The Poetry Party for children at the Greenwich Children's Festival

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Performed by Holly Atkins, Alice Barclay, Simon Muller and Anthony Shuster.

1. Sonnet 18, William Shakespeare. 2. Believe me, if all those endearing young charms, Thomas Moore. 3. The Passionate Shepherd to his love, Christopher Marlowe. 4. The Prohibition, John Donne. 5. The Good Morrow, John Donne. 6. The Bargain, Sir Philip Sidney. 7. To His Coy Mistress, Andrew Marvell. 8. Love’s Witness, Aphra Behn. 9. Sonnet 130, William Shakespeare. 10. To My Dear and Loving Husband, Anne Bradstreet. 11. If thou shalt love me, let it be for nought, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 12. Genius in beauty, Gabriel Dante Rossetti. 13. She Walks in Beauty, George Gordon Lord Byron. 14. “Why do I love” You, Sir?, Emily Dickinson. 15. The Clod and the Pebble, William Blake. 16. How Do I Love Thee?, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. 17. First Day, Christina Rossetti. 18. Love, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 19. Love's Philosophy, Percy Bysshe Shelley. 20. Love is Enough, William Morris. 21. First Love, John Clare. 22. The Kiss, Charlotte Dacre. 23. A Birthday, Christina Rossetti.

ANTHOLOGIES