Three Men of Gotham

Thomas Love Peacock 1785 (Weymouth, Dorset) – 1866



SEAMEN three! What men be ye?
Gotham's three wise men we be.
Whither in your bowl so free?
To rake the moon from out the sea.
The bowl goes trim. The moon doth shine.
And our ballast is old wine.--
And your ballast is old wine.

Who art thou, so fast adrift?
I am he they call Old Care.
Here on board we will thee lift.
No: I may not enter there.
Wherefore so? 'Tis Jove's decree,
In a bowl Care may not be.--
In a bowl Care may not be.

Fear ye not the waves that roll?
No: in charmed bowl we swim.
What the charm that floats the bowl?
Water may not pass the brim.
The bowl goes trim. The moon doth shine.
And our ballast is old wine.--
And your ballast is old wine.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

43 sec read
64

Quick analysis:

Scheme aaaaBBB cdcdaAA efefBBB
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 673
Words 142
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 7, 7, 7

Thomas Love Peacock

Thomas Love Peacock was an English novelist, poet, and official of the East India Company. more…

All Thomas Love Peacock poems | Thomas Love Peacock Books

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