04 February 2009

Ode to a mammoth cheese

When G K Chesterton said "Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese"
he surely must have been unaware of James McIntyre who crafted many a fine verse on the very subject.Ode to a Mammoth Cheese is but one of them.. Enjoy!


We have seen the Queen of cheese,
Laying quietly at your ease,
Gently fanned by evening breeze --
Thy fair form no flies dare seize.

All gaily dressed soon you'll go
To the great Provincial Show,
To be admired by many a beau
In the city of Toronto.

Cows numerous as a swarm of bees --
Or as the leaves upon the trees --
It did require to make thee please,
And stand unrivalled Queen of Cheese.

May you not receive a scar as
We have heard that Mr. Harris
Intends to send you off as far as
The great World's show at Paris.

Of the youth -- beware of these --
For some of them might rudely squeeze
And bite your cheek; then songs or glees
We could not sing o' Queen of Cheese.

We'rt thou suspended from baloon,
You'd cast a shade, even at noon;
Folks would think it was the moon
About to fall and crush them soon.

12 comments:

Nevin said...

Cheese.... you are such a tease....
I can not wait to bite you with ease....

This is my stupid poem that I came up with in 2 seconds.... :) Enjoy....

Anonymous said...

nice one...thanks for sharing,,,, Have a great day!

jams o donnell said...

Thanks Pretty Life Online

Nevin BRAVO!

Anonymous said...

Splendid! I, like Wallace and Gromit, believe that cheese is nature's most perfect food. Give me a sharp cheddar in a properly baked casserole or a golden-browned mozzarella atop a pizza lightly brushed with sauce as to not overpower the flavor of the cheese!

Sean Jeating said...

Cheese - I eat full loads,
and always grateful I am
to cows, sheep and goats.
Sometimes I do prefer ham.
[McSeanagall]

Frank Partisan said...

Are you a man or a mouse?

Put some cheese on the floor and we'll see.

The Lone Beader® said...

That's a big cheese!

jams o donnell said...

It is LB!

Haha Ren

Glad to see McSeanagall is doing well and creating gems Sean!

Ooh Delicious Randall!

A Doubtful Egg said...

Astounding! Both the poem and the cheese it describes, and might I add my appreciation of the label "cheese poetry". A neglected corner of the written word! I wonder is there a phobia about being crushed by a giant falling cheese?

jams o donnell said...

Sadly it is a rare genre egg but McIntyre carried the torch for many an aspiring cheese poet and that's for sure. A phobia bout being crushed by giant cheese? I'm sure we could invent one!

Claude said...

Thank you, Egg and Sean, for sending me to The Poor Mouth.

Jams - I cannot believe that you know our McIntyre. His art was not taken too seriously in his days but he celebrated my country well. We honour him today. Everybody now knows this line:
"The ancient poets ne'er did dream
That Canada was land of cream."

McIntyre would have enjoyed Nevin and McSeanagall's spontaneous rimes on the love of his life.

Wishing you all a cheesefull week-end from Toronto...

jams o donnell said...

Claudia I love good poetry and bad poetry - or this cse funny but ebnthusiastic poetry!

You will find I love the serious and the light hearted alike Claudia!