©Public Domain
"Ho! pretty swans,
Do you know, in our Zoo'
The swans of old England
Are just like you?"
"Don't tell me!"
Said a cross old bird;
"I know better,
The thing's quite absurd.
"Their figures, I'm sure,
Are not worth a glance:
If you want to see style,
You must come to France."
With a scornful whisk
The swan turned tail,
Spread its wings to the breeze,
And was off full-sail.
"Ho! pretty swan,
Do you know, in our Zoo'
The swans are not half
So conceited as you?"
Abroad, by Thomas Crane and Ellen Elizabeth Houghton, 1882, pg. 43
