Of all your rulers, Roman, Jew or Fezzer, The first or most pronounced is Nebu'nezzar. (_Too long_ this monstrous name has been derided, And so the _chad_, for rhythm, is elided.) "Neb" is enough, for short, and apropos Of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego, The King waxed wroth because these three live wires Passed thru his melting pots and furnace fires Without a burn: remarkable endurance! Because protected by good Fire Insurance. He paid the price for arson ere he died, Was kept lit up and rightly classified Among the beasts: and now that all is over 'Tis safe to say he did not live in clover, But roamed the pastures, when he lost his pull, And grazed himself to death: he was _some_ bull. Then next we come to Ruth, the Moabite: Her husband Chilion (not her!) one night Blew out the gas, and Ruth was thus bereft; But Naomi, her Ma-in-Law, was left To comfort her: and jolly well she did it! For Ruth's great grief soon ceased or else she hid it. Then to Naomi's Land the two repaired, Their love enhanced by sorrows they had shared. And so the elder of the widowed twain Set out to find, for Ruth, another swain; And all her schemes, 'tis said, succeeded so as To marry Ruth to wealthy kinsman Boaz. Unselfish? No! _She_ was too old to wed, So Ruth agreed to give her board and bed, Trusting to Boaz not to spoil her plan Who swallowed hook and line like any man. The attic room, or one just off the hall, Was where Naomi nightly had to crawl; And all her meals, unleavened bread and 'taters, Were eaten in the kitchen with the waiters,-- For Boaz, when the honeymoon was spent, Tightened his purse-strings--wouldn't spend a cent! And Naomi as welcome was, I think, As hungry roaches in the kitchen sink. This is the only case,--I know no other! Where widowed wife abided husband's mother; Or, where a woman, in such circumstance, Would give her son's relict another chance. There's Baal and those exalting Gods of brass; And Balaam, Prophet: but we'll let him pass! And John the Baptist, man who lost his head To fair Salomé, tho she cut him dead. There's Absalom the Vain, whose hair was long, Who, in the final parting, got in wrong: And Pharaoh, with chariots and fighters Pursuing Moses and the Israeliters; Who, half-seas over, when the King dropped in, Punished the latter for his divers sin, And rescued on the Red Sea bar his folk, Athirst for freedom from the Ptolemy yoke.