The Very Merry Voyage of the Macaroni Man

This figure here before you is a Macaroni Man, / Who is built, as you may notice, on a most ingenious plan. / His skeleton, I beg to state, is made of hairpins three, / Which are bent and curved and twisted to a marvellous degree. / His coat-sleeves and his trouser-legs, his head and eke his waist / Are made of superfine imported macaroni paste. / And if you care to listen, you may hear the thrilling tale / Of the merry Macaroni Man's extraordinary sail. / One sunny day he started for a voyage in his yacht, / His anxious mother called to him, and said, "You'd better not! / Although the sun is shining bright, I fear that it may rain; / And don't you think, my darling boy, you'd better take the train? " / "Oh, no," said he, "no clouds I see, -- the sky is blue and clear, / I will return in time for tea -- good-by, my mother dear."

Full merrily he started off, the day was fine and fair, / And to his great delight he found no dampness in the air. / You know if he gets wet, a Macaroni Man is spoiled, / And if he stands too near the steam, of course he may get boiled. / But our hero used precautions, -- carefully he shunned the spray, -- / And when the steam blew toward him, he just steered the other way. / Now, as the breeze was from the land, his course lay out to sea; / He sailed so far that he felt sure he would be late for tea. / He sailed, and sailed, and sailed, and sailed, -- / he feared the dew would fall -- / He tried to turn, -- but oh, that steam! it would not do at all!