SIMPLE SIMON

SIMPLE SIMON

A BOY named Simon sojourned in a dale;
Some said that he was simple, but I ’m sure
That he was nothing less than simon pure;
They thought him so because, forsooth, a whale
He tried to catch in Mother’s water-pail.
Ah! little boy, timid, composed, demure,—
He had imagination. Yet endure
Defeat he could, for he of course did fail.
But there are Simons of a larger growth,
Who, too, in shallow waters fish for whales,
And when they fail they are “unfortunate.”
If the small boy is simple, then are both,
And the big Simon more, who often rails
At what he calls ill luck or unkind fate.