Paul Groves
How to Get on in Society
When I first read him he couldn't do wrong.
Rhythms were sure. Rhyme schemes were strong.
Marlborough, Oxford ... it all seemed to fit.
The good old Establishment, delicate wit,
Fine country houses, polo and gin
Furnished a world where the favoured would win.
Doff your cloth cap. Polish your vowels.
We knew who we were to the depths of our bowels.
Rungs of the ladder, where the lift stopped
Were fixed for all time. Thoroughbreds cropped
Rich Surrey grassland. Country began
Round about Reigate. We were, to a man,
Stalwart and hearty and kept in our place,
A touchable forelock displayed. He was ace
At holding a mirror to toffs, and was fond
Of bowing and scraping before the beau monde.
I fell out of love with his Archibald bear,
A dim affectation, a gimmick, a snare.
I tired of the aesthete. I tired of the wag.
And Joan Hunter Dunn was a bit of a slag.
Rhythms were sure. Rhyme schemes were strong.
Marlborough, Oxford ... it all seemed to fit.
The good old Establishment, delicate wit,
Fine country houses, polo and gin
Furnished a world where the favoured would win.
Doff your cloth cap. Polish your vowels.
We knew who we were to the depths of our bowels.
Rungs of the ladder, where the lift stopped
Were fixed for all time. Thoroughbreds cropped
Rich Surrey grassland. Country began
Round about Reigate. We were, to a man,
Stalwart and hearty and kept in our place,
A touchable forelock displayed. He was ace
At holding a mirror to toffs, and was fond
Of bowing and scraping before the beau monde.
I fell out of love with his Archibald bear,
A dim affectation, a gimmick, a snare.
I tired of the aesthete. I tired of the wag.
And Joan Hunter Dunn was a bit of a slag.
Page(s) 35
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