Poems from Punch, 1909-1920

The following poems from 'Punch' are brought together to represent a larger number which amid much delightful but, as is fitting, ephemeral verse, serve the permanent interest o...

Garishly beautiful I watch them wane Like sunsets in a pink west, The passions of the past; but O their pain! You recollect that nice affair with Jane? We nearly had an inquest.

I lift my nose to catch the wafted savour Of incense stealing from the onion-bed, The perfume of the sage leaf. O, thou laver In filthiness and slush, I want thee dead-- No more...

Finally, be a sportsman; try to play Your part in what should prove a big success; Let me repeat--don't keep too far away; My distance is a hundred yards (or less); So, ere the...

Should you go down Ludgate Hill, As I'm sure you sometimes will, When the dark comes soft and new, Smudged and smooth and powder-blue, And the lights on either hand Run away to...

From Bideford and Appledore in craft of subtle grey Are strong hearts and steady hearts to keep the sea to-day; So well may fare the garden where the cider-apples bloom And Summ...

Child of the gorgeous East, whose ardent suns Have kissed thy velvet skin to deeper lustre And given thine almond eyes A look more calm and wise Than any we pale Westerners can...

I think I hear you saying, "Not so much Of waving palm-trees and the flight of years; It's evident that you are out of touch With war as managed by the Engineers. Hot blasts of...

But while they went by the coast of Kent up spoke an aged tar-- "A joke's a joke, but this 'ere moke is going a bit too far; I can tell by the motion we're nearing the ocean--an...