Poem by Alfred Edward Housman

The Nonsense Verse

At the door of my own little hovel,
Reading a novel I sat;
And as I was reading the novel
A gnat flew away with my hat.
As fast as a fraudulent banker
Away with my hat it fled,
And calmly came to an anchor
In the midst of the cucumber-bed.

I went and purchased a yacht
And traversed the garden-tank,
And I gave it that insect hot
When I got to the other bank;
Of its life I made an abridgment
By squeezing it somewhat flat,
But I still cannot think what that midge meant
By running away with my hat. 

1. Additional Poems. 4. It Is No Gift I Tender
2. More Poems. 40. Farewell to a Name and a Number
3. Last Poems. 26. The Half-Moon Westers Low, My Love
4. More Poems. 46. The Land of Biscay
5. Additional Poems. 2. Oh Were He and I Together

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