THE DONG WITH A LUMINOUS NOSE

When awful darkness and silence reign
Over the great Gromboolian plain,

Through the long, long wintry nights;
When the angry breakers roar

As they beat on the rocky shore;

When storm-clouds brood on the towering heights Of the hills of the Chankly Bore,

Then, through the vast and gloomy dark
There moves what seems a fiery spark,-
A lonely spark with silvery rays
Piercing the coal-black night,—
A Meteor strange and bright:
Hither and thither the vision strays,
A single lurid light.

Slowly it wanders, pauses, creeps,—
Anon it sparkles, flashes and leaps;
And ever as onward it gleaming goes

A light on the Bong-tree stems it throws.
And those who watch at that midnight hour
From Hall or Terrace or lofty Tower,

Cry, as the wild light passes along,—
"The Dong! The Dong!

The wandering Dong through the forest goes!"
"The Dong! The Dong!
The Dong with a luminous nose!"

Long years ago

The Dong was happy and gay,

Till he fell in love with a Jumbly girl

Who came to those shores one day.
For the Jumblies came in a sieve, they did,-
Landing at eve near the Zemmery Fidd

Where the Oblong Oysters grow.
And the rocks are smooth and grey.

And all the woods and the valleys rang

With the Chorus they daily and nightly sang,-
"Far and few, far and few,

Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green and their hands are blue
And they went to sea in a sieve."

Happily, happily passed those days!
While the cheerful Jumblies staid;
They danced in circlets all night long,
To the plaintive pipe of the lively Dong,
In moonlight, shine or shade.

For day and night he was always there
By the side of the Jumbly girl so fair,
With her sky-blue hands and her sea-green hair,
Till the morning came of that hateful day
When the Jumblies sailed in their sieve away,
And the Dong was left on the cruel shore,
Gazing, gazing forevermore,-

Ever keeping his weary eyes on

That pea-green sail on the far horizon,-
Singing the Jumbly chorus still

As he sate all day on the grassy hill,-
"Far and few, far and few,

Are the lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green and their hands are blue,
And they went to sea in a sieve."

But when the sun was low in the west,
The Dong arose and said;-
"What little sense I once possessed,

Has quite gone out of my head!"
And since that day he wanders still
By lake and forest, marsh and hill,
Singing, "Oh, somewhere, in valley or plain,
Might I find my Jumbly girl again!
Forever I'll seek by lake and shore
Till I find my Jumbly girl once more!"

Playing a pipe with silvery squeaks
Since then his Jumbly girl he seeks;
And because by night he could not see
He gathered the bark of the Twangum tree
On the flowery plain that grows.

And he wove him a wondrous Nose,-
A Nose as strange as a Nose could be!
Of vast proportions and painted red,
And tied with cords to the back of his head.
In a hollow, rounded space it ended,
With a luminous Lamp within suspended,
All fenced about

With a bandage stout

To prevent the wind from blowing it out;

And with holes all round to send the light
In gleaming rays on the dismal night.

And now each night and all night long,
Over those plains still roams the Dong;
And above the wail of the Chimp and Snipe
You may hear the squeak of his plaintive pipe,
While ever he seeks, but seeks in vain
To meet with his Jumbly girl again;
Lonely and wild, all night he goes,
The Dong with the luminous Nose!
And all who watch at the midnight hour
From Hall or Terrace or lofty Tower,
Cry, as they trace the Meteor bright,
Moving along through the dreary night,-
"This is the hour when forth he goes,
The Dong with the luminous Nose!
Yonder over the plain he goes,

He goes!

He goes,

The Dong with the luminous Nose!"

Of interest to those who know and love the Jumblies.

EDWARD LEAR.

Snug in bed and snoring;
Round the house I creep,

Your hard heart imploring.

Only say

You'll have Mr. Brallaghan;

Don't say nay,
Charming Judy Callaghan.

III

I've got a pig and a sow,

I've got a sty to sleep 'em
A calf and a brindled cow,

And a cabin too, to keep 'em;
Sunday hat and coat,

An old grey mare to ride on,
Saddle and bridle to boot,

Which you may ride astride on.
Only say

You'll be Mrs. Brallaghan;

Don't say nay,

Charming Judy Callaghan.

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