King Goodheart

There lived a King, as I've been

In the wonder-working days of old,

When hearts were twice as good as gold,

And twenty times as mellow.

Good temper triumphed in his face,

And in his heart he found a

For all the erring human

And every wretched fellow.

When he had Rhenish wine to

It made him very sad to

That some, at junket or at jink,

Must be content with toddy:

He wished all men as rich as he(And he was rich as rich could be),

So to the top of every

Promoted everybody.

Ambassadors cropped up like hay,

Prime Ministers and such as

Grew like asparagus in May,

And Dukes were three a penny:

Lord Chancellors were cheap as sprats,

And Bishops in their shovel

Were plentiful as tabby cats -If possible, too many.

On every side Field-Marshals gleamed,

Small beer were Lords-Lieutenants deemed,

With Admirals the ocean teemed,

All round his wide dominions;

And Party Leaders you might

In twos and threes in every

Maintaining, with no little heat,

Their various opinions.

That King, although no one denies,

His heart was of abnormal size,

Yet he'd have acted

If he had been acuter.

The end is easily foretold,

When every blessed thing you

Is made of silver, or of gold,

You long for simple pewter.

When you have nothing else to

But cloth of gold and satins rare,

For cloth of gold you cease to care -Up goes the price of shoddy:

In short, whoever you may be,

To this conclusion you'll agree,

When every one is somebody,

Then no one's anybody!