Shun the brush and shun the pen, <br />Shun the ways of clever men, <br />When they prove that black is white, <br />Whey they swear that wrong is right, <br />When they roast the singing stars <br />Like chestnuts, in between the bars, <br />_Children, let a wandering fool <br />Stuff your ears with cotton-wool._ <br /> <br />When you see a clever man <br />Run as quickly as you can. <br />You must never, never, never <br />Think that Socrates was clever. <br />The cleverest thing I ever knew <br />Now cracks walnuts at the Zoo. <br />_Children, let a wandering fool <br />Stuff your ears with cotton-wool._ <br /> <br />Homer could not scintillate. <br />Milton, too, was merely great. <br />That's a very different matter <br />From talking like a frantic hatter. <br />Keats and Shelley had no tricks. <br />Wordsworth never climbed up sticks. <br />_Children, let a wandering fool <br />Stuff your ears with cotton-wool._ <br /> <br />Lincoln would create a gloom <br />In many a London drawing-room; <br />He'd be silent at their wit, <br />He would never laugh at it. <br />When they kissed Salome's toes, <br />I think he'd snort and blow his nose. <br />_Children, let a wandering fool <br />Stuff your ears with cotton-wool._ <br /> <br />They'd curse him for a silly clown, <br />They'd drum him out of London town. <br />Professor Flunkey, the historian, <br />Would say he was a dull Victorian. <br />Matthew, Mark, and Luke and John, <br />Bless the bed I rest upon. <br />_Children, let a wandering fool <br />Stuff your ears with cotton-wool._ <br />Amen.<br /><br />Alfred Noyes<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/cotton-wool/
