LATTER-DAY GEOGRAPHY LESSON

This, quoth the Eskimo master
      was London in English times :
step out a little faster
you two young men at the last there
the Bridge would be near on our right hand
and the Tower near where those crows stand —
we struck it you’ll recall in Gray’s rhymes :
this, quoth the Eskimo master
was London in English times.

This, quoth the Eskimo master
      was London in English days :
beyond the hill they called Clapham
boys that swear Master Redtooth I slap ’em
I dis-tinct-ly heard–you–say–Bastard
don’t argue : here boys, ere disaster
overtook her, in splendour there lay
a city held empires in sway
and filled all the earth with her praise :
this quoth the Eskimo master
was London in English days.

She held, quoth the Eskimo master
      ten million when her prime was full
from here once Britannia cast her
gaze over an Empire vaster
even than ours : look there Woking
stood, I make out, and the Abbey
lies here under our feet you great babby
Swift-and-short do–please–kindly–stop–poking
Your thumbs through the eyes of that skull.

 A poem by R.A.K Mason, 1924 I was taught at school which I thought was referring to London after the nuclear mutual annihilation.  It is in fact a prophecy of were we are heading because there is no political party taking climate change and sustainability seriously.