KING JOHN.
I’m learning a lesson upon
King John:
A very great rascal was he.
He murdered Prince Arthur,
’Cause England would rather
The Prince should her sovereign be.
I’m learning a lesson upon
King John:
A coward and craven was he.
Up rose every baron
And said, “We’ll make war on
This king as our worst enemee!”
They beat him in many a field;
“Now yield!”
Cried they, “or Your Grace we must slay!
Or else, let us barter!
You’ll sign Magna Charta,
And we’ll take the soldiers away.”
He signed in a terrible hurry,
And flurry;
But soon as the soldiers were gone,
This pitiful fellow
Did shriek, howl and bellow,
He bit, and he scratched, and he kicked,
And licked
Every person that came in his way;
He murdered their spouses
And burned up their houses,
Behaved in an odious way.
One night he took tea with some monks,
(Old hunks!
Just to save his own supper at home!)
But he put on such airs
That they poisoned his pears,
Which concludes both his life and my pome.