Harry Graham (6)

Staubsaugerpoesie aus »Canned Classics«:

Harry Graham: The Vacuum Cleaner (A Poem of Progess)

(»Fond as I am of poetry,« says Mrs. Ella Wheeler Wilcox, the American poetess, »I can truly say that no epic ever impressed me so deeply, or so stirred my heart, as my first sight of a Vacuum Cleaner.«)

Though Swinburne may sing like a siren,
   And Tennyson trill like a thrush,
Though bachelors rave about Byron,
   And girls over Longfellow gush,
No epic that critics can write of
   Supplies a delight that is keener
Than that which I daily obtain from the sight of
                  A Vacuum Cleaner!

While lovers of music assemble
   Each night at the Opera House,
To shudder, to thrill, or to tremble
   At discords provided by Strauss,
Such orgies I savour the joys of,
   At home, 'mid surroundings serener,
Where daily I hear the Elektra-like noise of
                 The Vacuum Cleaner!

The hedges with blossoms are laden,
   The sunshine is bright up above,
And spring to the youth and the maiden
   Gives promise of laughter and love;
While birds, more triumphantly singing,
   In meadows and woods growing greener,
Announce to us elders that April is bringing
                 The Vacuum Cleaner.

Though Time of »Old Masters« denude us,
   Though Strangers our treasures annex,
Though frauds and impostures delude us,
   And counterfeits pain and perplex,
No fate that of Art would bereave us
   Can ruffle our placid demeanour,
So long as Dame Fortune is willing to leave us
                 The Vacuum Cleaner!