| Note from Joe: In case you thought that Ogden Nash only wrote silly verse, check out this bone-chilling masterpiece! This is not intended for children. The original children’s version is appended below. |
The solitary huntsman
No coat of pink doth wear,
But midnight black from cap to spur
Upon his midnight mare.
He drones a tuneless jingle
In lieu of tally-ho:
“I’ll catch a fox
And put him in a box
And never let him go.”
The solitary huntsman,
He follows silent hounds.
No horn proclaims his joyless sport,
And never a hoofbeat sounds.
His hundred hounds, his thousands,
Their master’s will they know:
To catch a fox
And put him in a box
And never let him go.
For all the fox’s doubling
They track him to his den.
The chase may fill a morning,
Or threescore years and ten.
The huntsman never sated
Screaks to his saddlebow,
“I’ll catch another fox
And put him in a box
And never let him go.”
| Needless to say, Nash based his poem on the traditional children’s song, “A-Hunting We Will Go”, and its unending supply of silly verses, a few of which appear below. |
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll catch a little bear
And then we’ll wash his hair
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll catch a little snake
And show him how to rake
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll catch a little pig
And make him dance a jig
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll catch a dinosaur
And shove him in a drawer
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll grab a crocodile
And teach him how to smile
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll trap a big bad meanie
And dress him in a bikini
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll go and rope a horse
And ride him of course
And then we’ll let him go.