English Poetry. Robert William Service. Facility. Роберт Уильям Сервис.

Robert William Service (Роберт Уильям Сервис)

Facility

So easy 'tis to make a rhyme,
That did the world but know it,
Your coachman might Parnassus climb,
Your butler be a poet.

Then, oh, how charming it would be
If, when in haste hysteric
You called the page, you learned that he
Was grappling with a lyric.

Or else what rapture it would yield,
When cook sent up the salad,
To find within its depths concealed
A touching little ballad.

Or if for tea and toast you yearned,
What joy to find upon it
The chambermaid had coyly laid
A palpitating sonnet.

Your baker could the fashion set;
Your butcher might respond well;
With every tart a triolet,
With every chop a rondel.

Your tailor's bill... well, I'll be blowed!
Dear chap! I never knowed him...
He's gone and written me an ode,
Instead of what I owed him.

So easy 'tis to rhyme... yet stay!
Oh, terrible misgiving!
Please do not give the game away...
I've got to make my living.

Robert William Service’s other poems:

1. Spanish Women
2. The Prospector
3. Playboy
4. Pullman Porter
5. Abandoned Dog

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