The Duck and the Kangaroo

I

Said the Duck to the Kangaroo,
“Good gracious! how you hop
Over the fields, and the water too,
As if you never would stop!
My life is a bore in this nasty pond;
And I long to go out in the world beyond:
I wish I could hop like you,”
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo.

II

“Please give me a ride on your back,”
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo:
“I would sit quite still, and say nothing but ‘Quack’
The whole of the long day through;
And we’d go the Dee, and the Jelly Bo Lee,
Over the land, and over the sea:
Please take me a ride! oh, do!”
Said the Duck to the Kangaroo.

III

Said the Kangaroo to the Duck,
“This requires some little reflection.
Perhaps, on the whole, it might bring me luck;
And there seems but one objection;
Which is, if you’ll let me speak so bold,
Your feet are unpleasantly wet and cold,
And would probably give me the roo⁠—
Matiz,” said the Kangaroo.

IV

Said the Duck, “As I sat on the rocks,
I have thought over that completely;
And I bought four pairs of worsted socks,
Which fit my web-feet neatly;
And, to keep out the cold, I’ve bought a cloak;
And every day a cigar I’ll smoke;
All to follow my own dear true
Love of a Kangaroo.”

V

Said the Kangaroo, “I’m ready,
All in the moonlight pale;
But to balance me well, dear Duck, sit steady,
And quite at the end of my tail.”

So away they went with a hop and a bound;
And they hopped the whole world three times round.
And who so happy, oh! who,
As the Duck and the Kangaroo?