[Jerome Betts]

Queen Ann commands, and I obey,
Over the syll'bles far away

WSG to QV

I am the very pattern of a modern Poet Laureate,
I can butter up like billy-o, but, at a pinch, excoriate.
I know a lot of people and most of them speak well of me,
I'm scandal-free and solvent, no torrid tales to tell of me.
My lines are sharp and singable, sweet too, but never sickly,
Though patriotic sentiment‘s a thing I lay on thickly.
My verses bring a premium, each bedizened with a drawing,
Which helps elicit readers' grins, if not outbreaks of guffawing.
I may be no A.Tennyson, yet my stuff is bright and merry,
And I really would do justice to that splendid perk, the sherry.
I beg you, Ma'am, award me what'll make my prospects aureate;
Please gild Saxe-Coburg-Gotha with a Schwenck as Poet Laureate.


Sorry, Ann. I have no musical ear or earworm.