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| “MAXIMILIAN MARVELOUS,” we called him for a joke; | |
| He used to pass us every day, but rarely ever spoke. | |
| The shoes he wore were scandalous—they did not fit his feet; | |
| In tattered coat and greasy shirt he shuffled down the street. | |
| When once we stopped Max solemnly, to pass the time of day, | 5 |
| He looked at us, half-doubting, in a hesitating way, | |
| And when we asked him if ’twere true that he was once a king | |
| Of some forgotten island, where the South Sea maidens sing, | |
| Lo! Maximilian Marvelous gave us a withering smile. | |
| I’ll ne’er forget his answer, as it came in vigorous style: | 10 |
| “I am a king of everything my roving eyes survey. | |
| My kingdom’s built of sun-lit bowers where little children play, | |
| My sceptre’s made of jeweled song that wakes old village lanes, | |
| My banquet hall is piled with dreams that romp in April rains. | |
| The great, wide world is my estate, but here I choose to ’bide, | 15 |
| I married Lady Poverty, and I am satisfied. | |
| I do not work—kings never work; why should I soil my hands? | |
| I am the ruler of my time, for town or meadow lands. | |
| Perhaps I am an artist; then I paint the sunset sky; | |
| Perhaps I am a poet when the days of Autumn die. | 20 |
| I eat one square meal every day; its source nobody knows, | |
| And he who gives it to me sees I also get some clothes. | |
| The sun and rains are friends of mine, the stars are my delight, | |
| They bring me thoughts of childhood when my mother’s eyes were bright. | |
| I am a king of everything that money cannot buy. | 25 |
| The richest man on earth, like me, must some day fade and die.” | |
| Then Maximilian Marvelous said not another thing; | |
And as he walked away we cried, “He’s every inch a king!”
New York Times | |
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