A MAGNET hung in a hardware shop, <br />And all around was a loving crop <br />Of scissors and needles, nails and knives, <br />Offering love for all their lives; <br />But for iron the Magnet felt no whim, <br />Though he charmed iron, it charmed not him, <br />From needles and nails and knives he'd turn, <br />For he'd set his love on a Silver Churn! <br />His most aesthetic, <br />Very magnetic <br />Fancy took this turn - <br />"If I can wheedle <br />A knife or needle, <br />Why not a Silver Churn?" <br /> <br />And Iron and Steel expressed surprise, <br />The needles opened their well-drilled eyes, <br />The pen-knives felt "shut up," no doubt, <br />The scissors declared themselves "cut out," <br />The kettles they boiled with rage, 'tis said, <br />While every nail went off its head, <br />And hither and thither began to roam, <br />Till a hammer came up - and drove it home, <br />While this magnetic <br />Peripatetic <br />Lover he lived to learn, <br />By no endeavour, <br />Can Magnet ever <br />Attract a Silver Churn!<br /><br />William Schwenck Gilbert<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-magnet-and-the-churn/
