Sir Beelzebub
Edith Sitwell
Sir
Beelzebub called for his syllabub in the hotel in Hell
Where Proserpine first fell,
Blue as the gendarmerie were the waves of the sea,
(Rocking and shocking the barmaid).
Nobody comes to give him his rum but the
Rim of the sky hippopotamus-glum
Enhances the chances to bless with a benison
Alfred Lord Tennyson crossing the bar laid
With cold vegetation from pale deputations
Of temperance workers (all signed In Memoriam)
Hoping with glory to trip up the Laureate's feet,
(Moving in classical metres) ...
Like Balaclava, the lava came down from the
Roof, and the sea's blue wooden gendarmerie
Took them in charge while Beelzebub roared for his rum.
... None of them come!
Notes: syllabub is a dessert made from rich milk or cream seasoned with sugar and lightly curdled with wine.
Man, does that thing move in weird, trippy ways: incredible stuff. It's like an honors seminar in meter and tone, like Vachel Lindsay's "The Congo" mixed with Tennyson's "In Memoriam."
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