The Quid Pro Quo

  'He was aware'—Oh great and good
  And virtuous Doctor Hunter!—He
Observed in sympathetic mood,
  My struggles with the base Rupee
Yea—he could feel for others, who
By thousands counts his monthly 'screw'!

  'He was aware' my Jimmy's bills
  For schooling annually grow.
He found the balm for all my ills—
  The panacea as below:—
'Five pie per hardly earned rupee
Secures His Lordship's sympathy.'

  'He was aware' my wife desired
  A homeward journey in the spring;
'He was aware' my son required
  A final College polishing ...
My son will be a clerk—but I—
I have 'his Lordship's sympathy'.

  It is a great and holy gift,
  But (mournfully the bard confesses)
It will not give his son a lift,
  Or pay for Mrs. Timpkins' dresses.
One cannot clothe one's self you see
With e'en Viceregal sympathy.

  Wife of my bosom, o'er the main
  You cannot go—Droop sweetly here!
What matter? Let us read again
  That cutting from the Pioneer.
Just think! We paupers—you and I— 
Possess His Lordship's sympathy!

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