Artful Anticks

Chapter 34: Heroes.

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About This Book

A collection of short, humorous poems and light fables that animate animals, children, and fairies to expose human foibles through playful rhyme and gentle irony. Pieces range from brief narrative verses to comic monologues and a short stage piece, typically concluding with a witty reversal or moral sting. Imagery moves between domestic detail and fanciful incident, and the poems vary in meter and length to keep tone brisk. Overall the work favors whimsical satire, clever wordplay, and anthropomorphic scenarios intended to amuse while lightly admonishing readers about pride, industry, and pretension.

Heroes.

I built a castle on the shore,
And left to guard it three or four
Lead soldiers of the bravest sort,
And ordered them to hold the fort
Till I should come once more.

But when I came again next day,
I found the sea had washed away
My castle built upon the sand.
Alas! the gallant little band
Of soldiers, where were they?

Buried in sand, erect, and square,
They held the fort with martial air;
And when I’d said a little speech,
I dug them out and made them each
A general then and there.