BEASTLY TALES

WHAT A LOO!

A Romanesque nose, and a lantern jaw.
Two cauliflower ears, what is more.
A haughty expression, when he did prattle,
Even more haughty, when preparing for battle!
Craggy chin, jutting out over high collar,
He was a soldier, much more than a scholar.
It’s 1815 and there is Napoleon Bonaparte.
Back again, in Europe, being an upstart.
Someone simply had to put him back in his place.
His greedy behaviour was a blooming disgrace!
Would Wellington boot him out of Waterloo?
Pull his side whiskers, so to speak, too.
Send him to exile, on a ship that did creak.
Get rid, once and for all, of that little round freak!

The French were aggressive, as they often can be.
The English awaited Blucher’s reinforcements exponentially.
Then it all came to a head, a Battle Royal,
With thousands of dead bleeding into the soil.
The French and English, fighting at close quarters.
Mostly small weaponry, plus rudimentary cannons and mortars.
All dressed elaborately, with improbable high hats.
Some with gaiters that resembled spats.
How they maintained their high hats remains a mystery,
The exact methodology to go down in history.
As at Trafalgar, the British won the day.
The British relished dashing into a frey!
Waterloo, a successful battle, with yet another hero.
To stand statuesquely upon a column like Caesar and Nero.
The pigeons certainly do appreciate such art.
A roosting place around which they can flutter and dart!