Strictly Germ-Proof

Guiterman, Arthur (1871 - 1943)

1The Antiseptic Baby and the Prophylactic Pup

2Were playing in the garden when the Bunny gamboled up;

3They looked upon the Creature with a loathing undisguised; —

4It wasn't Disinfected and it wasn't Sterilized.

5They said it was a Microbe and a Hotbed of Disease;

6They steamed it in a vapor of a thousand-odd degrees;

7They froze it in a freezer that was cold as Banished Hope

8And washed it in permanganate with carbolated soap.

9In sulphurated hydrogen they steeped its wiggly ears;

10They trimmed its frisky whiskers with a pair of hard-boiled shears;

11They donned their rubber mittens and they took it by the hand

12And 'lected it a member of the Fumigated Band.

13There's not a Micrococcus in the garden where they play;

14They bathe in pure iodoform a dozen times a day;

15And each imbibes his rations from a Hygienic Cup --

16The Bunny and the Baby and the Prophylactic Pup.

Notes

1] Prophylactic: disease-preventing. Back to Line

8] permanganate: a salt of permanganic acid. carbolated soap: a salt of carbolic acid. Back to Line

13] Micrococcus: spherical bacterium, usually found on the skin of mammals. Back to Line

14] iodoform: compound of iodine used as an antiseptic. Back to Line

Publication Notes

Guiterman, Arthur, The Laughing Muse (New York and London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1915): 11-12. First published in Women's Home Companion (1906).

RPO poem Editors

Ian Lancashire