Dirge For Defeated Candidates

|THE dreadful Dragon and the Unicorn,

`Accustomed to be treated with respect,

`And much annoyed by present-day neglect,

Have sometimes wished they never had been born,

`At least in any world so "unselect."=

Their non-existence being now a "fact"

`Accepted by mankind's majority,

`They naturally feel quite "up a tree."

They don't know what to do to counteract

`These damned delusions of Democracy.=

Although they often walk out in the sun,

`And show themselves in all important streets,

`Although in fact they have their "regular beats,"

They're hardly ever seen by any one,

`And get no notice in the "daily sheets."=

Although as signs they hang on various inns,

`They find themselves irrevocably "out."=

In vain they prance and caracole about,

Even the tribute of "derisive grins"

`Is now denied them in their final rout.=

Mere non-belief in his existence may

`Seem, to one emptying a festive flagon

`In the interior of the "Wasp and Wagon,"

A very trifling matter any way.

`But it is most annoying to the Dragon.=

The subject may appear beneath contempt

`To one who holds the world's applause in scorn,

`Preferring in a cloister to adorn

"Illumined scrolls in heavenly colours dreamt,"

`But it is galling to the Unicorn.