           Oh, my! what bows they sport.

           The train behind that followed – oh!
           It far outshone the Lord Mayor's show;

     And e'en the grand display
     When, to our Prince to give a name,
     His Majesty of Prussia came
     To England t' other day.

XII

     Now Arthur's seat they reach: not that
     Where royal Arthur never sat —
     Dun Edin's famous mound.

     Loud shouts of joy the welkin crack,
     And Arthur dubs our hero Jack,
     Knight of the Table Round.

     And now, in Pleasure's syren lap,
     Sir Jack indulges in a nap-
     I crave his grace – Sir John!

     Flirts with the fairest dames at court,
     And drinks, noblest lords, the port —
     This comes of "getting on."

JACK SETTLES THE REMAINING GIANTS AND SETTLES DOWN

I

"Tantara tara, tantara tara, tantara tara, – ra!
Tara tara, tara, tara, tara, tantararan ta – ta!"

II

     Hark to the warlike trumpet blast, the clarion call of fame!
     Bounds not the hero's heart if he is worthy of the name?
     What time the trump and kettle-drum at glorious Drury Lane,
     Call bold King Dick to bide the brunt of Bosworth's battle plain;
     So, to the soul of stout Sir Jack, Adventure's summon spoke,
     And from her dream of luxury his martial spirit woke.
     Before King Arthur's royal throne he knelt upon his knee,
     And thus with courtly speech addressed his gracious Majesty: —

III

     "Illustrious Arthur, King of Trumps,
                  My duty bids me stir my stumps;
     Fell Giants yet, your country's pest,
     Your faithful liegemen much molest;
                 'T is my intention, if you will,
                  Their uncouth highnesses to kill.

        I crave some loose cash and a cob,
        And trust me, sire, I 'll do the job,
        As sure as fate, for every snob."

        "Why," said the King, "your plan's romantic
        And yet't is true those rogues gigantic
        Have wrought my subjects much annoy: —
        Well; go and prosper, Jack, my boy;
        I hope and trust you 'll put them down;
        So here's a horse, and – half-a-crown.

IV

        With cap and brand, —
                  You understand
        Well what their virtues were, -
                  And shoes so swift,
                  His uncle's gift,
        Jack canters off like air:
        Like air as fleet, and as viewless too,
        Intent on doing "deeds of do."

        "Over hill and over mountain,
        Thorough forest and by fountain,"
               Jack flies by day,
               Gallant and gay.

     Jack flies by day, though none can spy him —
               Learn every one
               Bored by a dun,
     And take a lesson, debtors, by him —
               Jack flies by night,
               In the moonlight,
     No "four-year-old" could have come nigh him.

     At length he came to a forest vast,
     Through which his journey led;
     When shrieks arose upon the blast, —
     "Hallo," said Jack, "who's dead? "

     Like a fern owl he flits through the forest trees,
     And, as he expected, a Giant he sees,
     Dragging a couple along by the hair —
     They were a knight and a lady fair,
     And theirs was the row that rent the air.

     The heart of Jack,
     No way slack,
     Was melted by their tears and cries;
     Benevolent lad!
     So he jumps off his prad,
     And unto an oak the animal ties:
     So Hampshire Squire, when, at the din,
     Of hare entrapped in poacher's gin,
     His gentle pity melts;
     Dismounts him from his gallant steed,
     Murmuring, "A purty joak, indeed!"
     And to the rescue pelts.

V

     Jack approached the Giant nigh,
     But the monster was so deucedly high,
     He could n't reach to his philabeg;
     But he cut him a little about the leg.
     The Giant, swearing, roared, "This is
     A twinge of that beastly 'rheumatis.'

     I 'll take a dose of 'Blair' to-night;
     If I don't, I'm – !" Said Sir Jack, "You 're right!"
     And he fetched him a blow with all his might;
     The ham-strings gave, the monster fell.

     Did n't he screech, and did n't he yell!
     Did n't the trees around him shake!
     Did n't the earth to the centre quake!
     Jack lent him a kick on his loggerhead,
     And trod on his brawny neck, and said-
              "Oh, barbarous wretch!
              I'm Jack – Jack Ketch;
     I am come for thy crimes to serve thee out;
              Take this, and this,
              Iss! iss! iss! iss!"
     And he riddled the heart of the prostrate lout —
     Dear me! how the blood did spout!

VI

     The lady fair, and the gentle knight,
     Scarcely could believe their sight,
     When they beheld the Giant "kick;"
        Unseen the hand that struck the blow,
        And one cried "Ha!" the other "O – h!"
     Both making sure it was old Nick.

     But joy illumes their wondering mien,
     When, doffing his coat of "invisible green,"
     Sir Jack appears before their eyes.
     "Thanks!" cried the knight, "thou valour's pink!"
     "Well!" said the lady, "only think!

     Oh! thank you, saviour of our life!"
     "Come home, sir, with myself and wife: —
     After such work," the knight pursued —
     "A little ale – " "You 'll think me rude,"
     Said Jack, "but know, oh worthy peer!
     I thirst for glory – not for beer.

     I must rout out this monster's den,
     Nor can I be at ease till then."

     "Don't," begged the knight, "now don't, sir, pray,
     Nor run another risk to-day;
     Yon mount o'erhangs the monster's lair,
     And his big brother waits him there,
     A brute more savage than himself;
     Then lay your courage on the shelf."

     "No!" Sir Jack answered, "if I do,
     May I be hanged! Now, mark me, you!
     Were there twice ten in yonder hole,
         Ere sinks behind yon crag the sun,
         The gory head of every one
     Before my feet should roll!

     Farewell – I 'll call as I come back."
     "Adieu," the knight replied; "Alack!
     I had forgotten; here's my card."
     "Thank you," said Jack, and "bolted hard."

VII

         Away, away, to the mountain cave,
             Rides Jack at a spanking trot;
         No Knight of the Poll-axe, all so brave,
             Could have distanced him I wot!

            The Gorgon's head you ne'er have seen —
     Nor would it much avail,
             To marble ears, Ï rather ween,
     The bard to sing his tale.

     But oft the Saracen's, I know,
     Hath horrified your sight
     On London's famous Hill of Snow,
     Which is n't often white.

     Such was the visage, but four times its size,
     With a trunk to match, that our champion spies.

     By the mouth of the cave on a chopping-block sitting,
     Grinding his teeth and his shaggy brows knitting,
     Was the Giant; – and rolling his terrible eyes
     Like portentous meteors, they
     Glimmered, glowed, and flashed away;

     His cheeks and nose were fiery too;
             Like wire on his chin the bristles grew;
             And his tangled locks hung down his back,
             Like the legs of a Brobdignag spider so black;
             Ready, the thickest skull to crack
             That ever county member wore,
     His iron club beside him lay.

     He was in a terrible way,
             For he voted his brother's not coming a bore.

VIII

             The hero, Jack, dismounts to dress —
             What was his toilet you may guess;

         So may I be ever dight
         When I bow me for the fight.

IX

     Like a cliff o'er ocean lowering,
     Or some old and cross curmudgeon
     Waiting, dinnerless, in dudgeon,
     Sits the Giant glumly glowering.

     Hears he not a whisper say,
     "So there you are, old rascal, eh? "
     Hears he not a step approaching,
     Though he may n't the comer see?
     No; like rogue by streamlet poaching,
     Creeps Jack near him stealthily.

X

     As when some school-boy – idle thief —
     With double-knotted handkerchief,
     What time his comrade stooping low,
     With tightened skin invites the blow;
     With sundry feints, delays to smite,
     And baulks, to linger out delight;
     So Jack, with thorough-going blade,
     Stood aiming at the Giant's head.

     At last the champion cried, "Here goes
     Struck, and cut off the monster's – nose.
     Like a thousand bulls all roaring mad,
     Was the furious Giant's shout,

     With the iron club, which I said he had,
        Oh! how he laid about!
     "Oho! if that's your way, old cock,
     We must finish the game," quoth Jack;
     So he vaulted upon the chopping-block,
        And ran him through the back.

     The Giant howled; the rocks around
         Thrilled with his demon squall,
     Then flat he fell upon the ground,
        As the Monument might fall.

XI

     The Giants slain, the Cornish man
     Despatched their gory heads by van
     To great King Arthur; – gifts more queer
     Have ne'er been sent to our Sovereign dear.
     She gets gigantic cheeses, cakes,
     Which loyal-hearted subject makes;
     Gigantic peaches, melons, pumpkins,
     Presented by her faithful bumpkins;
     And giant heads of brocoli – not
     The heads of Giants sent to pot —
     Long may such heads, and such alone,
     Be laid before her stainless throne!

XII

     Now Jack the darksome den explores,
     And through its turns and windings pores,
     'Till to a spacious hall he comes,
     Where, o'er the hearth, a cauldron hums,
     Much like a knacker's in the slums;

     Hard by, a squalid table stood,
     All foul with fat, and brains, and blood;
     The two great Ogres' carrion food.

     Through iron grate, the board beside,
     Pale captive wretches he descried;
     Who, when they saw the hero, cried,
     "Alas! here comes another, booked,
     Like us, poor pris'ners, to be cooked."

     "Thank you," said Jack; "the Giants twain
         Have had their bellyful of me;
     To prove I do not boast in vain,
         Behold, my bucks of brass, you 're free!"
         And he brast the bars right speedily.

     To meat they went, and, supper done,
     To the treasury they hied each one
          And filled their pockets full of money.
     What Giants could want with silver and gold,
     In sooth tradition hath not told: —
         'T is a question rather funny.

XIII

              The very next day
              The rest went away,
     To their dear little wives and their daughters,
     But Jack to the knight's
     Repairs with delights
     To recruit himself after his slaughters.

     The lady fair and the gentle knight
     Were glad to see Sir Jack "all right;"

     Resolved to "do the handsome thing,"
                    They decked his finger with a ring
                    Of gold that with the diamond shone —
     This motto was engraved thereon: —

XIV

               The feast is spread in the knightly hall,
               And the guests are uproarious, one and all,
               Drinking success to the hero stout
               Who larruped the Giants out-and-out;
               When, lo! all their mirth was changed to gloom,
     For a herald, all whey-faced, rushed into the room.

                Oh, the horrified wight!
     What a terrible sight!
     He spoke – five hundred jaws were still;
     Eyes, twice five hundred, staring wide —
               "Mac Thundel's coming, bent to kill
               You, valiant champion – hide, sir, hide!"
     The cry of the crowd without they hear,

               "Mac Thundel is coming, oh dear! oh dear!"
               "And who the deuce is this Mac Thundel,