THE PEDESTRIAN'S PLAINT

Edward Verrall Lucas 1868-1938

Will there never come a season

Which shall rid us from the curse

Of a speed which knows no reason,

And the too contiguous hearse;

When no longer shall we tremble

As the motors leave their lair;

Meekly by the kerb assemble

While the klaxon rends the air -

When the gladsome news will nerve us

That the petrol-wells are dry

And the horse again must serve us,

Safe and sure and stepping high?

That will be a day for fiddling,

Fun and festival galore,

When the Armstrongs cease from Siddling

And the Royces roll no more!

The last two lines refer to the Rolls-Royce and Armstrong-Siddeley cars

-o0o-