Japan

Inhabitants of far Japan Are happy as the day is long To sit behind a paper fan And sing a kind of tuneless song, Desisting, ev'ry little while, To have a public bath, or smile.

The members of the fairer sex Are clad in a becoming dress, One garment reaching from their necks Down to the ankles more or less; Behind each dainty ear they wear A cherry-blossom in their hair.

If 'Imitation's flattery' (We learn it at our mother's lap), A flatterer by birth must be Our clever little friend the Jap, Who does whatever we can do, And does it rather better too.