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Robert W Service - Apollo Belvedere
Work rating: Low

A-sittin` on a cracker box an` spittin` in the stove,
I took a sudden notion that I`d kindo` like to rove;
An` so I bought a ticket, jest as easy as could be,
From Pumpkinville in Idaho to Rome in Italy;
An` found myself in seven days of mostly atmosphere
A-starin` at a statoo called Appoller Belvydeer.

Now I`m a rum-soaked sinner, an` religion ain`t my plan,
Yet, I was flabbergasted by that gol-darned Vattyican;
An` when I seed Saint Peter`s dome, all I could do was swear,
The which I reckon after all may be a form o` prayer;
Abut as I sought amid them sights bewildered to steer,
The king-pin was the one they called Appoller Belvydeer.

Say, I ain`t got no culture an` I don`t know any art,
But that there statoo got me, standin` in its room apart,
In an alcove draped wi` velvet, lookin` everlastin` bright,
Like the vision o` a poet, full o` beauty, grace an` light;
An` though I know them kind o` words sound sissy in the ear,
It`s jest how I was struck by that Appoller Belvydeer.

I`ve gazed at them depictions in the glossy magazines,
Uv modern Art an` darned if I can make out what it means:
Will any jerk to-day outstand a thousand years of test?
Why, them old Pagans make us look like pikers at the best.
An` maybe, too, their minds was jest as luminous and clear
As that immortal statoo o` Appoller Belvydeer.

An` all yer march o` progress an` machinery as` such,
I wonder if, when all is said, they add up to so much?
An` were not these old fellers in their sweet an` simple way
Serener souled an` happier than we poor mugs to-day?
They have us licked, I thought, an` stood wi` mingled gloom an` cheer
Before that starry statoo o` Appoller Belvydeer.

So I`ll go back to Pumpkinville an` to my humble home,
An` dream o` all the sights I saw in everlastin` Rome;
But I will never speak a word o` that enchanted land
That takes you bang into the Past - folks wouldn`t understand;
An` midmost in my memories I`ll cherish close an` dear
That bit o` frozen music, that Appoller Belvydeer.
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