Maggie's Visit to Oxford E-book
Author: Lewis Carroll
Genre: Literature, Poetry
1889
MAGGIE'S VISIT TO OXFORD
(June 9th to 13th, 1889)
by Lewis Carroll
Electronically Enhanced Text (c) Copyright 1996, World Library(R)
MAGGIE'S VISIT TO OXFORD
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(Written for Maggie Bowman.)
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WHEN Maggie once to Oxford came,
On tour as "Bootles' Baby",
She said, "I'll see this place of fame,
However dull the day be."
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So with her friend she visited
The sights that it was rich in:
And first of all she popped her head
Inside the Christ Church kitchen.
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The Cooks around that little child
Stood waiting in a ring:
And every time that Maggie smiled
Those Cooks began to sing-
Shouting the Battle-cry of Freedom!
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"Roast, boil and bake,
For Maggie's sake:
Bring cutlets fine
For her to dine,
Meringues so sweet
For her to eat-
For Maggie may be
Bootles' Baby!"
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Then hand in hand in pleasant talk
They wandered and admired
The Hall, Cathedral and Broad Walk,
Till Maggie's feet were tired:
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To Worcester Garden next they strolled,
Admired its quiet lake:
Then to St. John, a college old,
Their devious way they take.
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In idle mood they sauntered round
Its lawn so green and flat,
And in that garden Maggie found
A lovely Pussy-Cat!
-
A quarter of an hour they spent
In wandering to and fro:
And everywhere that Maggie went,
The Cat was sure to go-
Shouting the Battle-cry of Freedom!
-
"Maiow! Maiow!
Come, make your bow,
Take off your hats,
Ye Pussy-Cats!
And purr and purr,
To welcome her,
For Maggie may be
Bootles' Baby!"
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So back to Christ Church, not too late
For them to go and see
A Christ Church undergraduate,
Who gave them cakes and tea.
-
Next day she entered with her guide
The garden called "Botanic",
And there a fierce Wild Boar she spied,
Enough to cause a panic:
-
But Maggie didn't mind, not she,
She would have faced, alone,
That fierce wild boar, because, you see,
The thing was made of stone.
-
On Magdalen walls they saw a face
That filled her with delight,
A giant face, that made grimace
And grinned with all its might.
-
A little friend, industrious,
Pulled upwards all the while
The corner of its mouth, and thus
He helped that face to smile!
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"How nice", thought Maggie, "it would be
If I could have a friend
To do that very thing for me
And make my mouth turn up with glee,
By pulling at one end."
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In Magdalen Park the deer are wild
With joy, that Maggie brings
Some bread a friend had given the child,
To feed the pretty things.
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They flock round Maggie without fear:
They breakfast and they lunch,
They dine, they sup, those happy deer-
Still, as they munch and munch,
Shouting the Battle-cry of Freedom!
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"Yes, Deer are we,
And dear is she!
We love this child
So sweet and mild:
We all rejoice
At Maggie's voice:
We all are fed
With Maggie's bread...
For Maggie may be
Bootles' Baby!"
-
They met a Bishop on their way...
A Bishop large as life,
With loving smile that seemed to say
"Will Maggie be my wife?"
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Maggie thought not, because, you see,
She was so very young,
And he was old as old could be...
So Maggie held her tongue.
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"My Lord, she's Bootles' Baby, we
Are going up and down",
Her friend explained, "that she may see
The sights of Oxford Town."
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"Now say what kind of place it is,"
The Bishop gaily cried.
"The best place in the Provinces!"
That little maid replied.
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Away, next morning, Maggie went
From Oxford town: but yet
The happy hours she there had spent
She could not soon forget.
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The train is gone, it rumbles on:
The engine-whistle screams;
But Maggie deep in rosy sleep...
And softly in her dreams,
Whispers the Battle-cry of Freedom.
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"Oxford, good-bye!"
She seems to sigh.
"You dear old City,
With gardens pretty,
And lanes and flowers,
And college-towers,
And Tom's great Bell...
Farewell- farewell:
For Maggie may be
Bootles' Baby!"
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THE END
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