'A Highly Valuable Chain of Thoughts'

'A Highly Valuable Chain of Thoughts'

Original Text
The Poetical Works of Andrew Lang, ed. Mrs. Lang, 4 vols. (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1923): III, 138-39. British Library 011645.ee.47
1HAD cigarettes no ashes,
2    And roses ne'er a thorn,
6    The turf would ne'er be torn,
7Had cigarettes no ashes,
8    And roses ne'er a thorn.
9Had cigarettes no ashes,
10    And roses ne'er a thorn,
11The big trout would not ever
12Escape into the river.
13No gut the salmon smashes
14    Would leave us all forlorn,
15Had cigarettes no ashes,
16    And roses ne'er a thorn.
17But 'tis an unideal
18    Sad world in which we're born,
19And things will 'go contrairy'
20With Martin and with Mary:
21And every day the real
22    Comes bleakly in with morn,
23And cigarettes have ashes,
24    And every rose a thorn.

Notes

3] funker: flincher. Back to Line
4] whin: gorse.
burn: brook. Back to Line
5] mashies: mid-irons in golf. Back to Line
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 2001