I'VE wisdom from the East and from the West,
That's subject to no academic rule;
You may find it in the jeering of a jest, Or distil it from the folly of a fool.
I can teach you with a quip, if I've a mind! I can trick you into learning with a laugh;
Oh, winnow all my folly, and you'll find A grain or two of truth among the chaff!
I can set a braggart quailing with a quip, The upstart I can wither with a whim;
He may wear a merry laugh upon his lip, But his laughter has an echo that is grim.
When they're offered to the world in merry guise, Unpleasant truths are swallowed with a will—
For he who'd make his fellow creatures wise Should always gild the philosophic pill!
