POEM MATILDA

Matilda told such Dreadful Lies,
It made one Gasp and Stretch one's Eyes;
Her Aunt, who, from her
Earliest Youth,
Had kept a Strict Regard for Truth,
Attempted to Believe Matilda:
The effort very nearly killedher,
And would have done so, had not She Discovered this Infirmity.
For once, towards the Close ofDay,
Matilda, growing tired of play,
And finding she was left
alone,
Went tiptoe to the Telephone,
And summoned the
Immediate Aid
Of London's Noble Fire-
Brigade,
Within an hour the Gallant Band,
Were pouring in on every
hand,
From Putney, Hackney Downs and Bow,
With Courage high and Hearts a-glow,
They galloped, roaring
through the Town,
"Matilda's House is Burning Down!"
Inspired by British Cheers and Loud
Proceeding from the Frenzied Crowd,
They ran their ladders through a score
Of windows on the Ball Room Floor;
And took Peculiar Pains to
Souse
The Pictures up and down theh ouse,
Until Matilda's Aunt succeeded In showing them they were not needed
And even then she had to pay,
To get the Men to go away! It happened that a few Weeks later
Her Aunt was off to the
Theatre
To see that Interesting Play The Second Mrs. Tanqueray.
She had refused to take her Niece to hear this Entertaining Piece:
A Deprivation Just and Wise,
To Punish her for Telling Lies.
That Night a Fire _did_ break out--
You should have heard Matilda shout!
You should have heard her Scream and Bawl,
And throw the window up and call
To People passing in the
Street--
(The rapidly increasing Heat
Encouraging her to obtain
Their confidence)--but all in vain!
For every time She shouted "Fire!"
They only answered "Little Liar!"
And therefore when her Aunt returned,
Matilda, and the House, were
Burned. [The end]
written by Hilaire Belloc poem: