When Britain really ruled the waves - <br />(In good Queen Bess's time) <br />The House of Peers made no pretence <br />To intellectual eminence, <br />Or scholarship sublime; <br />Yet Britain won her proudest bays <br />In good Queen Bess's glorious days! <br /> <br />When Wellington thrashed Bonaparte, <br />As every child can tell, <br />The House of Peers, throughout the war, <br />Did nothing in particular, <br />And did it very well; <br />Yet Britain set the world ablaze <br />In good King George's glorious days! <br /> <br />And while the House of Peers withholds <br />Its legislative hand, <br />And noble statesmen do not itch <br />To interfere with matters which <br />They do not understand, <br />As bright will shine Great Britain's rays, <br />As in King George's glorious days!<br /><br />William Schwenck Gilbert<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-house-of-peers/
