The Parson and the Prelate
I SAW a Parson on a bike—
A parody on things—
His coat-tails flapped behind him like
A pair of caudal wings.
His coat was of the shiny green,
His hat was rusty brown;
He was a weird, wild sight, I ween,
Careering through the town.
What perched him on a wheel at all,
And made him race and rip?
Had he, perchance, a sudden call
To some rich rectorship?
He’d no such call; he raced and ran
To kneel and pray beside
The bedside of a dying man,
Who poor as Peter died.
I saw a Prelate, plump and fine,
Who gleamed with sanctity;
He was the finest-groomed divine
That you would wish to see.
His smile was bland; his air was grand;
His coat was black, and shone
As did the tents of Kedar and
The robes of Solomon.
And in a carriage fine and fair
He lounged in lordly ease—
It was a carriage and a pair—
And nursed his gaitered knees.
And whither went he, and what for,
With all this pomp and show?
He went to see the Governor,
And that is all I know.
But in a vision of the night,
When deep dreams come to men,
I saw a strange and curious sight—
The Prelate once again.
He sat ungaitered, and undone,
A picture of dismay—
His carriage was too broad to run
Along the Narrow Way!
But, with his coat-tails flapping like
Black caudal wings in wrath,
I saw the Parson on the bike
Sprint up the Shining Path.
This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:
- published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
- anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
- government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1974).
This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.
Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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