THE STATESMAN'S HOLIDAY
 
 I LIVED among great houses,
 Riches drove out rank,
 Base drove out the better blood,
 And mind and body shrank.
 No Oscar ruled the table,
 But I'd a troop of friends
 That knowing better talk had gone
 Talked of odds and ends.
 Some knew what ailed the world
 But never said a thing,
 So I have picked a better trade
 And night and morning sing:
 Tall dames go walking in grass-green Avalon.
 
 Am I a great Lord Chancellor
 That slept upon the Sack?
 Commanding officer that tore
 The khaki from his back?
 Or am I de Valera,
 Or the King of Greece,
 Or the man that made the motors?
 Ach, call me what you please!
 Here's a Montenegrin lute,
 And its old sole string
 Makes me sweet music
 And I delight to sing:
 Tall dames go walking in grass-green Avalon.
 
 With boys and girls about him.
 With any sort of clothes,
 With a hat out of fashion,
 With Old patched shoes,
 With a ragged bandit cloak,
 With an eye like a hawk,
 With a stiff straight back,
 With a strutting turkey walk.
 With a bag full of pennies,
 With a monkey on a chain,
 With a great cock's feather,
 With an old foul tune.
 Tall dames go walking in grass-green Avalon.