Punch/Volume 147/Issue 3832/The Willow Pattern Plate
A Philistine? Then you will smile
At this old willow-pattern plate
And junks of long-forgotten date
That anchor off Pagoda Isle;
At this old willow-pattern plate
And junks of long-forgotten date
That anchor off Pagoda Isle;
At little pig-tailed simpering rakes
Who kiss their hands (three miles away)
To dainty beauties of Cathay
Beside those un-foreshortened lakes.
Who kiss their hands (three miles away)
To dainty beauties of Cathay
Beside those un-foreshortened lakes.
With hand on heart they smile and sue.
Their topsy-turvy world, you say,
Is out of all perspective? Nay,
'Tis we who look at life askew.
Their topsy-turvy world, you say,
Is out of all perspective? Nay,
'Tis we who look at life askew.
Dreams lose their spell; hard facts we prize
In our humdrum philosophy;
But, could we change, who would not be
A suitor for those azure eyes?
In our humdrum philosophy;
But, could we change, who would not be
A suitor for those azure eyes?
Who would not sail with fairy freight
Piloting some flat-bottomed barge—
A size too small, or else too large—
On this old willow-pattern plate?
Piloting some flat-bottomed barge—
A size too small, or else too large—
On this old willow-pattern plate?