I Like Americans

I Like Americans

Original Text
Ernest Hemingway, Complete Poems, ed. Nicholas Gerogiannis, rev. edn. (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1992): 65. PS 3515 E37A17 1992 Robarts Library.
By A Foreigner
1I like Americans.
2They are so unlike Canadians.
3They do not take their policemen seriously.
4They come to Montreal to drink.
5Not to criticize.
6They claim they won the war.
7But they know at heart that they didn't.
8They have such respect for Englishmen.
9They like to live abroad.
10They do not brag about how they take baths.
11But they take them.
12Their teeth are so good.
13And they wear B.V.D.'s all the year round.
14I wish they didn't brag about it.
15They have the second best navy in the world.
16But they never mention it.
17They would like to have Henry Ford for president.
18But they will not elect him.
19They saw through Bill Bryan.
20They have gotten tired of Billy Sunday.
21Their men have such funny hair cuts.
22They are hard to suck in on Europe.
23They have been there once.
24They produced Barney Google, Mutt and Jeff.
25And Jiggs.
26They do not hang lady murderers.
27They put them in vaudeville.
28They read the Saturday Evening Post
29And believe in Santa Claus.
30When they make money
31They make a lot of money.
32They are fine people.

Notes

4] "Québec rejected [prohibition] as early as 1919 and became known as the `sinkhole' of N America, but tourists flocked to 'historic old Québec' and the provincial government reaped huge profits from the sale of booze" (Canadian Encyclopedia, 2nd edn. [Edmonton: Hurtig, 1988]: 1765). Back to Line
13] B.V.D.'s: trademark for underwear. Back to Line
17] Henry Ford (1863-1947): manufacturer of automobiles. Back to Line
19] Bill Bryan: William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), American lawyer and politician who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. President. Back to Line
20] Billy Sunday: William Ashley Sunday (1862-1935), American evangelist. Back to Line
22] suck in: trick, deceive. Back to Line
24] Barney Google, Mutt and Jeff. / And Jiggs: all are newspaper comic strip characters, the first begin in 1919, the second two from 1910, and last in one named "Bringing Up Father." Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1923
Publication Notes
Toronto Star Weekly
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1999.
Rhyme
unrhyming