When people gather to discuss
The railway freights, the motor-bus,
Or anything allecting us
Within our social plan;
Wherever people meet to spout,
To turn the Gov'ment inside out,
You'll notice somewhere in the rout
A fervent lawyer-man.
At pleasant Sunday afternoons,
Where Judkins weaves his mystic runes
And Parson Edgar rolls his tunes
And Woodful's in the van;
Where Johnny Wren in secret stands
And laughs at all O'Donnell's bands,
While shillings tumble in his hands --
There lurks a lawyer-man.
Within the Parliamentary hall,
Where statesmen, at their country's call,
Orate, debate, and brag, and brawl,
And prosper while they can;
Among those patriots grand and good,
Who guide our infant nationhood,
We find, more often than we should,
The noble lawyer-man.
Too often your domestic life
Is vexed by sounds of bitter strile;
Beware lest you offend your wife
And fall beneath her ban;
All anxious to redress her woes
(More well-informed than you suppose).
There sits and waits, with eager nose,
The wily lawyer-man.
You're not a dull, unsocial grub --
You often toddle to a club,
Sit down to have a quiet rub
Of bridge whene'er you can;
Your partner, when the rubber starts,
Will growl because you made it hearts,
And prove his case with subtle arts --
You've struck a lawyer-man.
In politics, in social sphere,
In your domestic circle, dear,
Over your billiards, bowls and beer,
You'll meet this conquering clan.
The days of kings and crowns are past --
To dim oblivion they are cast;
The monarch of the world atlast
Is He, the lawyer-man.
First published in Melbourne Punch, 5 July 1906
Author reference site: Austlit
See also.
The railway freights, the motor-bus,
Or anything allecting us
Within our social plan;
Wherever people meet to spout,
To turn the Gov'ment inside out,
You'll notice somewhere in the rout
A fervent lawyer-man.
At pleasant Sunday afternoons,
Where Judkins weaves his mystic runes
And Parson Edgar rolls his tunes
And Woodful's in the van;
Where Johnny Wren in secret stands
And laughs at all O'Donnell's bands,
While shillings tumble in his hands --
There lurks a lawyer-man.
Within the Parliamentary hall,
Where statesmen, at their country's call,
Orate, debate, and brag, and brawl,
And prosper while they can;
Among those patriots grand and good,
Who guide our infant nationhood,
We find, more often than we should,
The noble lawyer-man.
Too often your domestic life
Is vexed by sounds of bitter strile;
Beware lest you offend your wife
And fall beneath her ban;
All anxious to redress her woes
(More well-informed than you suppose).
There sits and waits, with eager nose,
The wily lawyer-man.
You're not a dull, unsocial grub --
You often toddle to a club,
Sit down to have a quiet rub
Of bridge whene'er you can;
Your partner, when the rubber starts,
Will growl because you made it hearts,
And prove his case with subtle arts --
You've struck a lawyer-man.
In politics, in social sphere,
In your domestic circle, dear,
Over your billiards, bowls and beer,
You'll meet this conquering clan.
The days of kings and crowns are past --
To dim oblivion they are cast;
The monarch of the world atlast
Is He, the lawyer-man.
First published in Melbourne Punch, 5 July 1906
Author reference site: Austlit
See also.
