I heard an elephantine tread
That jarred the rafters overhead:
Who leaped in mad abandon
there
And tossed my slippers in
the air?
Who, sitting gravely on the rug,
Espied a microscopic bug
And stalked it, gaining bit
by bit, -
Then leapt in air and fell
on it?
Who gallops madly down the breeze
Pursuing specks that no one sees,
Then finds some ancient boot
instead
And worries it till it is
dead?
I have no adult friends who choose
To gnaw the shoe-strings from my shoes, -
Who eat up twine and paper
scraps
And bark while they are taking
naps.
Oh Dog, you offer every proof
That stately age yet holds aloof.
Grown up? There's meaning
in the phrase,
Of dignity as well as day.
Oh why such size, beloved pup? -
You've grown enough, but not grown up.
Men say again thy kindred have no souls,
And sin is but an attribute
of men;
Say, is it chance alone that
bids thee,then,
Choose only garden spots for digging holes?
Why dost thou filch some fragment
of the cooking
At times when no one seemeth
to be looking?
Was there an elder Adam of thy race,
And brindled Eve, the mother
of thy house,
Who shared some purloined
chicken with her spouse,
Thus causing all thy tribe to fall from grace?
If fleas dwelt in the garden
of that Adam,
Perhaps thy sinless parents
never had 'em.
This morn thou cam'st a-slinking through the door,
Avoiding eyes and some dark
corner sought,
And though no accusation filled
our thought,
Thy tail, apologetic, thumped the floor.
Who claims thou hast no conscience,
argues vainly,
For I have seen its symptoms
very plainly.
What leads thee to forsake thy board and bed
On days that are devoted to
thy bath?
For if it is not reason, yet
it hath
Appearance of desire to plan ahead!
The sage who claims thy brain
and soul be wizen
Would do quite well to swap
thy head for his'n.