The Whirlwind
Whirlwind, Whirlwind, whither art thou hieing,
Snapping off the flowers young and fair;—
Setting all the chaff and the withered leaves a-flying,—
Tossing up the dust in the air?
“I,” said the Whirlwind, “cannot stop for talking!
Give me up your cap, my little man;
And the polished stick, that you will not need for walking.
While you run to catch them, if you can!
“You, pretty maiden—none has time to tell her
I am coming, ere I shall be there.
I will twirl her zephyr—snatch her light umbrella,
Seize her hat, and snarl her glossy hair!”
On went the Whirlwind, showing many capers
One would hardly deem it meet to tell;—
Dusting Judge and Parson—flirting gown and papers,—
Discomposing matron, beau and belle.
“Whisk!” from behind came the long and sweeping feather,
Round the head of old Chanticleer:—
Plumed and plumeless biped felt gust together,
In a way they wouldn’t like to hear.
Snug in his arbor sat a scholar, musing
Calmly o’er the philosophic page:
“Flap!” went the leaves of the volume he was using,
Cutting short the lecture of the sage.
“Hey!” said the bookworm, “this I think is taking
Rather too much liberty with me!
Yet I’ll not resent it; being bent on making
Use of every thing I hear and see.
“Many, I know, will not their anger stifle,
When as little cause as this, they find
To let it kindle up; but minding every trifle
Is profitless as quarrels with the wind.
“Forth to his business when the Whirlwind sallies,
He is all alive to get it done;—
He on his pathway never lags nor dallies;
But is ever up, and on the run.
“Though ever whirling, never growing dizzy;
Motion gives him buoyancy and power.
All who have known him own that he is busy,
Doing much in half a fleeting hour.
“Oh! there is nothing—when our work’s before us,—
Like despatch; for, while our time is brief,
Some sweeping blast may suddenly come o’er us,
Lose our place, and turn another leaf!
“Whirlwind, Whirlwind, though you’re but a flurry,
And so odd the business you pursue;—
Though you come on, and are off, in such a hurry,
I have caught a hint; and now adieu!”