The Drear

SKYWATCH

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THE DREAR!

Sorry to disappoint you, dearie,

But this one's going to be quite dreary!

Autumn foliage, dead and brown

Seen on a roof-top in Sydney Town!

Think of Australia.... think of sun!

But winter comes when Autumn's done!

Dark clouds gather, the cold wind blows!

This isn't the sunshine that we chose!

While other nations are gamboling,

Singing merry songs of Spring,

Making garlands of pretty flowers,

This is the outlook that is ours!

And does anybody give a toss

That while you win we cope with loss!

We float down here in the Southern seas!

Soon our extremities will freeze!

Will you give us a single thought

As you get a tan on the tennis court?

No!  We're discarded and alone

As you lick the umpteenth ice-cream cone!

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But there's one thing you should remember!

We'll be laughing come September!

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VACCINATION

Sir Edward Jenner, here portrayed

Found that he had made the grade

When first he practiced cow-pox vaccination.

His is a really well-known name,

Praised in the annals of great fame,

One of the heroes of the British nation.

But see this lady down below!

She, too, is someone you should know;

She also played a part in this endeavour.

Who is she in her Turkish dress?

I'm certain you will never guess,

For is she ever given credit? Never!

Now these are Turks. It's a disgrace

That they can rarely claim a place

In all the annals read on vaccination,

For they had practiced the great art

Throughout their history, from the start

And we should be so grateful to their nation

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Ambassador, Lord Montague,

Sailed with his wife (all this is true)

To represent his King in distant parts.

The Lady Mary did good works

Among the peasantry, the Turks,

And she learned their local customs and their arts.

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She found that small-pox, which was rife,

Sometimes threatened another life,

Unless they'd come in contact with a case.

The Turks made sure that pus from sores

Entered a healthy person's pores,

Although the process wasn't nice to face.

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Lady Mary sent the news

To England, giving them her views

That, in this way, much death could be prevented.

Her own young son was treated thus,

Although I'm sure he made a fuss,

And so the modern process was invented.

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Edward Jenner went ahead

Using cow-pox germs instead,

And, sure enough, the smallpox germ retreated,

And all the British people cried

'Without a doubt he's Britain's pride!'

And down through time this cry has been repeated.

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But let us not forget to praise

A lady and her learned ways,

Who had to live with no appreciation,

And all the Turks who went before

Who, also, should be praised much more,

And who gave us all the boon of vaccination

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