1. Aaron Moore
  2. Memorization
The Sycophantic Fox and the Gullible Raven A raven sat upon a tree, And not a word he spoke, for His beak contained a piece of Brie, Or, maybe, it was Roquefort: We’ll make it any kind you please— At all events, it was a cheese. Beneath the tree’s umbrageous limb A hungry fox sat smiling; He saw the raven watching him, And spoke in words beguiling: “J’admire,” said he, “ton beau plumage,” (The which was simply persiflage). Two things there are, no doubt you know, To which a fox is used,— A rooster that is bound to crow, A crow that’s bound to roost, And whichsoever he espies He tells the most unblushing lies. “Sweet fowl,” he said, “I understand You’re more than merely natty: I hear you sing to beat the band And Adelina Patti. Pray render with your liquid tongue A bit from ‘Götterdämmerung.’” This subtle speech was aimed to please The crow, and it succeeded: He thought no bird in all the trees Could sing as well as he did. In flattery completely doused, He gave the “Jewel Song” from “Faust.” But gravitation’s law, of course, As Isaac Newton showed it, Exerted on the cheese its force, And elsewhere soon bestowed it. In fact, there is no need to tell What happened when to earth it fell. I blush to add that when the bird Took in the situation He said one brief, emphatic word, Unfit for publication. The fox was greatly startled, but He only sighed and answered “Tut!” The moral is: A fox is bound To be a shameless sinner. And also: When the cheese comes round You know it’s after dinner. But (what is only known to few) The fox is after dinner, too. by Guy Wetmore Carryl [Source]

Footnotes

  1. Natty - Neat, trim, and smart; dapper.
  2. Adelina Patti - (1843-1919) "... was an Italian-French 19th-century opera singer ... [and] remains one of the most famous sopranos in history, owing to the purity and beauty of her lyrical voice and the unmatched quality of her bel canto technique."
  3. Götterdämmerung - or Twilight of the Gods "is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas ... (The Ring) ... The title is a translation into German of the Old Norse phrase Ragnarök.
  4. Jewel Song - Angela Gheorghiu as Marguerite sings the Jewel Song from Act III of Gounod's Faust
  5. Faust - "Faust is an opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part One."

Personal Notes