Poems by Lewis Carroll


A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky
A boat beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July -
 
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear
Pleased a simple tale to hear -
 
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.
 
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
 
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
 
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
 
Ever drifting down the stream -
Lingering in the golden gleam -
Life, what is it but a dream?

You are Old, Father William

"You are old, father William," the young man said,
    "And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head --
    Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

"In my youth," father William replied to his son,
    "I feared it would injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
    Why, I do it again and again."

"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
    And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door --
    Pray, what is the reason of that?"

"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
    "I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment -- one shilling the box --
    Allow me to sell you a couple."

"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak
    For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak --
    Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
    And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
    Has lasted the rest of my life."

"You are old," said the youth; one would hardly suppose
    That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose --
    What made you so awfully clever?"

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
    Said his father; "don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
    Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!"