There lived a King, as I've been told <br />In the wonder-working days of old, <br />When hearts were twice as good as gold, <br />And twenty times as mellow. <br />Good temper triumphed in his face, <br />And in his heart he found a place <br />For all the erring human race <br />And every wretched fellow. <br />When he had Rhenish wine to drink <br />It made him very sad to think <br />That some, at junket or at jink, <br />Must be content with toddy: <br />He wished all men as rich as he <br />(And he was rich as rich could be), <br />So to the top of every tree <br />Promoted everybody. <br /> <br />Ambassadors cropped up like hay, <br />Prime Ministers and such as they <br />Grew like asparagus in May, <br />And Dukes were three a penny: <br />Lord Chancellors were cheap as sprats, <br />And Bishops in their shovel hats <br />Were plentiful as tabby cats - <br />If possible, too many. <br />On every side Field-Marshals gleamed, <br />Small beer were Lords-Lieutenants deemed, <br />With Admirals the ocean teemed, <br />All round his wide dominions; <br />And Party Leaders you might meet <br />In twos and threes in every street <br />Maintaining, with no little heat, <br />Their various opinions. <br /> <br />That King, although no one denies, <br />His heart was of abnormal size, <br />Yet he'd have acted otherwise <br />If he had been acuter. <br />The end is easily foretold, <br />When every blessed thing you hold <br />Is made of silver, or of gold, <br />You long for simple pewter. <br />When you have nothing else to wear <br />But cloth of gold and satins rare, <br />For cloth of gold you cease to care - <br />Up goes the price of shoddy: <br />In short, whoever you may be, <br />To this conclusion you'll agree, <br />When every one is somebody, <br />Then no one's anybody!<br /><br />William Schwenck Gilbert<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/king-goodheart/
