THE SONG OF HIAWALPOLE

 

IV.   HIAWALPOLE’S FRIENDS

 

Most beloved by Hiawalpole,

Singled out from all the others,

Bound to her in closest union,

And to whom she gave the right hand

Of her heart, in joy and sorrow,

Was the gentle Don-the Baker.

 

     Straight between them ran the pathway,

Never grew the grass upon it;

Singing-birds, that utter falsehoods,

Story-tellers, mischief-makers,

Found no eager ear to listen,

Could not breed ill-will between them,

For they kept each other’s counsel,

Spake with naked hearts together,

Pondering much, and much contriving

How the Barnet tribes might prosper.

 

     Then the singer, Jay-the-Linden,

Jay-the-Linden, the musician,

He the best of all musicians,

When he sang the members listened;

All the members read his programmes,

All the menfolk gathered round him,

All the women came to hear him;

Now he stirred their souls to passion,

Now he melted them to pity.

 

     From the diary notes he fashioned

Paragraphs so sweet and mellow,

That Jill Dilks and Vera Fisher,

Ceased to murmur in the Wood Street,

That the Woodhams ceased from singing,

And the Sybil, she the Ashton,

Ceased her chatter in the Oakwood,

And the Roberts and the Lemos

Sat upright to look and listen.

 

     Yes, the cook, the Smith of Southgate,

Pausing, said, “O Jay-the-Linden,

Teach my quiches to melt the tastebuds,

Softly as your words the programme!”

 

     Yes the jay-bird, he the Aubrey,

Envious, said, “O Jay-the-Linden,

Teach me words as wild and wayward,

Teach me jokes as full of frenzy!”

 

     All the many social evenings

Borrowed lustre from his writing;

All the members’ hearts were softened

By the weirdness of his humour;

For he wrote of treasure-hunting,

Wrote of sports days, films and dancing;

Wrote his “bitsas” and gave mention

To the former event-givers,

In the kingdom of the Kurschner,

In the land of Pete-the-Pillock.

 

      Very dear to Hiawalpole

Was the singer Jay-the-Linden,

Dear, too, unto Hiawalpole

Was the strong man, Don-the-Baker,

He the strongest of all mortals,

He the mightiest among many;

For his very strength she loved him,

For his strength allied to goodness.

 

 

You'll Never Know was written in 1953 by Mack Gordon

and Harry Warren for the movie Hello Frisco Hello.

Thanks again to Susan Helene for the midi.