Note from Joe: In case you thought that Ogden Nash only wrote silly verse, check out this bone-chilling masterpiece! This is not intended for children. The original children’s version is appended below.
The solitary huntsman
No coat of pink doth wear,
But midnight black from cap to spur
Upon his midnight mare.
He drones a tuneless jingle
In lieu of tally-ho:
“I’ll catch a fox
And put him in a box
And never let him go.”
The solitary huntsman,
He follows silent hounds.
No horn proclaims his joyless sport,
And never a hoofbeat sounds.
His hundred hounds, his thousands,
Their master’s will they know:
To catch a fox
And put him in a box
And never let him go.
For all the fox’s doubling
They track him to his den.
The chase may fill a morning,
Or threescore years and ten.
The huntsman never sated
Screaks to his saddlebow,
“I’ll catch another fox
And put him in a box
And never let him go.”
Needless to say, Nash based his poem on the traditional children’s song, “A-Hunting We Will Go”, and its unending supply of silly verses, a few of which appear below.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll catch a little bear
And then we’ll wash his hair
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll catch a little snake
And show him how to rake
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll catch a little pig
And make him dance a jig
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll catch a dinosaur
And shove him in a drawer
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll grab a crocodile
And teach him how to smile
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll trap a big bad meanie
And dress him in a bikini
And then we’ll let him go.
A hunting we will go
A hunting we will go
We’ll go and rope a horse
And ride him of course
And then we’ll let him go.