Many a jest that refuses to die <br /> Bobs up again as the seasons appear; <br />Deathless it hits us again in the eye- <br /> Changeless and dull as the calendar year. <br /> Musty and mouldy and yellow and sere, <br />Stronger, withal, than the sturdiest oak; <br /> Ancient and solemn and deadly and drear- <br />Down with the grandmother-funeral joke! <br /> <br />Soon as the snow has forgotten to fly, <br /> All through the day of the 'leathery sphere,' <br />Jokelets and pictures and verses we spy <br /> All on the theme of the grandmother dear. <br /> Bonnets, umbrellas, and buckets of beer <br />Please us and tickle us quite to the choke. <br /> But-on this matter our attitude's clear- <br />Down with the grandmother-funeral joke! <br /> <br />Giggle we can at a blueberry pie; <br /> Scream at a comedy king or ameer; <br />Simply guffaw when the jestermen guy <br /> Marriage, a thing at which no one should jeer. <br /> Things that in others elicit a tear <br />All of our risibles simply unyoke; <br /> But from this stand we're unwilling to veer: <br />Down with the grandmother-funeral joke! <br /> <br /> <br />L'ENVOI <br /> <br />Brothers in motley, the season is here; <br /> Small is the boon that we sadly invoke: <br />Butcher it, murder it, jump on its ear! - <br /> Down with the grandmother-funeral joke!<br /><br />Franklin P. Adams<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ballade-of-the-hardy-annual/
