StoryTitle("caps", "The Plaint of the Camel ") ?>
PoemStart() ?>
PagePoem(117, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Canary birds feed on sugar and seed, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Parrots have crackers to crunch;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And as for the poodles, they tell me the noodles ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Have chickens and cream for their lunch. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L4", "", "But there's never a question", "") ?>
PoemLine("L4", "", "About my digestion—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Anything does for me!", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Cats, you're aware, can repose in a chair, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Chickens can roost upon rails;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Puppies are able to sleep in a stable, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And oysters can slumber in pails. ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L4", "", "But no one supposes", "") ?>
PoemLine("L4", "", "A poor Camel dozes—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Any place does for me!", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Lambs are inclosed where it's never exposed, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Coops are constructed for hens;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "Kittens are treated to houses well heated, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And pigs are protected by pens.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L4", "", "But a Camel comes handy ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L4", "", "Wherever it's sandy—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Anywhere does for me!", "") ?>
PagePoem(118, "L0", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "People would laugh if you rode a giraffe ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Or mounted the back of an ox;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "It's nobody's habit to ride on a rabbit ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Or try to bestraddle a fox.", "") ?>
PoemLine("L4", "", "But as for a Camel, he's", "") ?>
PoemLine("L4", "", "Ridden by families—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Any load does for me!", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "A snake is as round as a hole in the ground, ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "And weasels are wavy and sleek;", "") ?>
PoemLine("L0", "", "And no alligator could ever be straighter ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Than lizards that live in a creek,", "") ?>
PoemLine("L4", "", "But a Camel's all lumpy ", "") ?>
PoemLine("L4", "", "And bumpy and humpy—", "") ?>
PoemLine("L2", "", "Any shape does for me!", "") ?>
PoemAttribution("85", SmallCapsText("—Charles Edward Carryl.")) ?>
PoemEnd() ?>
From The Admiral's Caravan. Used by permission of the author.