Down in the green hay Where monkey and bear usually lay They woke from a stable-boy's cry
He said; someone come quick! The horses got loose, got grass-sick! They'll founder! Fain, they'll die
What is now known by the sorrel and the roan? By the chestnut, and the bay, and the gelding grey?
It is: stay by the gate you are given And remain in your place, for your season And had the overfed dead but listened To that high-fence, horse-sense, wisdom...
Did you hear that, Bear? Said monkey We'll get out of here, fair and square They've left the gate open wide!
So My bride Here is my hand, where is your paw? Try and understand my plan, Ursala My heart is a furnace Full of love that's just, and earnest Now; you know that we must unlearn this Allegiance to a life of service And no longer answer to that heartless Hay-monger, nor be his accomplice (that charlatan, with artless hustling!) But; Ursala, we've got to eat something And earn our keep, while still within The borders of the land that man has girded (all double-bolted and tight-fisted!) Until we reach the open country A-steeped in milk and honey
Will you keep your fancy clothes on, for me? Can you bear a little longer to wear that leash? My love, I swear by the air I breathe: Sooner or later, you'll bare your teeth
But for now, just dance, darling C'mon, will you dance, my darling? Darling, there's a place for us Can we go, before I turn to dust? Oh my darling, there's a place for us Oh darling C'mon will you dance, my darling? Oh, the hills are groaning with excess Like a table ceaselessly being set Oh my darling, we will get there yet
They trooped past the guards, Past the coops, and the fields, and the farmyards All night, till finally:
The space they gained grew Much farther than the stone that bear threw To mark where they'd stop for tea
But walk a little faster And don't look backwards Your feast is to the East, which lies a little past the pasture
When the blackbirds hear tea whistling, they rise and clap And their applause caws the kettle black And we can't have none of that!
Move along, Bear; there, there; that's that Though cast in plaster Our Ursala's heart beat faster Than monkey's ever will
But still; They have got to pay the bills Hadn't they? That is what the monkey'd say
So, with the courage of a clown, or a cur Or a kite, jerking tight at its tether In her dun-brown gown of fur And her jerkin' of swansdown and leather
Bear would sway on her hind legs; The organ would grind dregs of song, for the pleasure Of the children, who'd shriek Throwing coins at her feet Then recoiling in terror
Sing, dance, darling C'mon, will you dance, my darling? Oh darling, there's a place for us Can we go, before I turn to dust? Oh my darling, there's a place for us
Oh darling C'mon, will you dance, my darling? You keep your eyes fixed on the highest hill Where you'll ever-after eat your fill Oh my darling, dear, mine If you dance Dance, darling, and I love you still
Deep in the night Shone a weak and miserly light Where the monkey shouldered his lamp
Someone had told him The bear had been wandering A fair piece away from where they were camped
Someone had told him The bear'd been sneaking away To the seaside caverns, to bathe
And the thought troubled the monkey For he was afraid of spelunking down in those caves
Also afraid what the village people would say If they saw the bear in that state;
Lolling and splashing obscenely Well, it seemed irrational, really; washing that face
Washing that matted and flea-bit pelt In some sea-spit-shine, old ke