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Title: Old Baldy
Author: W. E. Christian [
More Titles by Christian]
The "Black Eagle" said, "I think it but fair,
That I should be ruler of both land and air,
And have all the other birds under my reign.
How great I shall be over such a domain."
The others protested, saying, "This you can't do;
We'll never submit to a swell-head like you.
Before we'll come under your despotic rod,
We'll fight to the very last drop of our blood."
But the "Black Eagle" answered: "I'll have what I wish;
I'll pay you for suckers, and catch a big fish;
I'll clip your wings off with a big pair of shears
That I have been grinding, the last forty years.
"I'll hook my big talons right into your breast,
And get a wild 'Turkey' to help do the rest.
We'll pluck that fine plumage all off from your back;
And you'll find desolation the brand of my track."
And so the fight started. It waxed fierce and long;
And proved the "Black Eagle" unusually strong.
With three years of fighting, he still was intact,
And seemed to be victor--in fight and in fact.
But at this very moment of luck for the "Black,"
A venerable eagle flew into his track.
He was gray, he was bald, he was ancient as well;
And just where he came from, there's no use to tell.
This "Bald-headed Eagle" was hailed with delight,
When the other birds saw he was going to fight;
But when they beheld the tactics employed,
By "Baldy the Great One," they were overjoyed.
For he hooked his curved bill in the top of the head
Of "Old Blackey the Terror," then quietly said:
"Just watch my talons clip up to his throat.
With one still free, I will pick this old bloat."
The struggle was fierce, and the feathers flew high;
The "Black One's" fine plumage came off rapidly;
"Old Baldy's" quick work, and to make good his word,
Left nary a feather stick on the Black bird.
The fight at last ended; the "Black" gave it up,
With "Baldy" victorious, awarded the cup;
But the "Black One" was stripped of all honor and fame.
Has a place in this world with a dishonored name.
It may be a fable, but history records
This defeat of the "Fowl of Great Boasting Words."
How the "Prussian Black Eagle" that thought he could scratch,
Found in "Old Baldy" far more than his match.
[The end]
W. E. Christian's poem: Old Baldy
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