Page:The Glugs of Gosh (C. J. Dennis, 1917).djvu/90

"Hold him!" he yelled, as he bounced on the floor.
"Oh, who is this tinker that rhymes at my door?
Go get me the name and the title of him!"
They answered, "Be calm, sir. 'Tis no one but Sym.

"'Tis Sym. the mad tinker, the son of old Joi,
Who ran from his home when a bit of a boy.
He went for a tramp, tho' 'tis common belief.
When folk were not looking he went for a thief;
Then went for a tinker, and rhymes as he goes.
Some say he's crazy, but nobody knows."

'Twas thus it began, the exalting of Sym,
And the mad Gluggish struggle that raged around him.
For the good Mayor seized him, and clothed him in silk.
And fed him on pumpkins and pasteurised milk.
And praised him in public, and coupled his name
With Gosh's vague prophet of archival fame.

The Press interviewed him a great many times,
And printed his portrait, and published his rhymes;
Till the King and Sir Stodge and the Swanks grew afraid
Of his fame 'mid the Glugs and the trouble it made.