Punch: The Immortal Liar, Documents in His History

Excerpt from Punch: The Immortal Liar, Documents in His History
Two Old Men who Remembered Punch
Do I remember Punch? - Listen - I'll tell you.
I am an old man now, but I remember,
I saw him in the flesh. My, my, what flesh!...
I can still see him shut his eyes to sing, -
As he did always when he'd drunk too much!...
He was the splendidest fool I ever knew.
His great red nose was bent down like an ogre's,
His mouth was wide, he was half-bald, half-grey,
His legs were bandy... Every woman in town
Had slapped his face, - although, to hear him talk,
You'd think he'd kissed them all! He was a coward,
We kicked him, spat upon him, whipped him, cursed him,
And threw him out of doors... And yet, we liked him.
What lies he told! He had a genius for it.
He killed his wife, hopped upon Sheba's knee,
Walked and talked with devils, raped and murdered...
Why did we listen to him!... Why did we like him!..
Well, I don't know. Say rather that we loved him -
There was a something noble about the man.
Somehow, though small, he cast an enormous shadow.
The night before he died, we carried him home.
He stopped to lean on the churchyard wall a moment,
And stared at the tower clock. "Listen!" he said.
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