  “Fool, not to know that love endures no tie, —Dryden. THE Minotaur, a horrid beast Which made its food of maidens fair And handsome youths, to say the least Had given Athens quite a scare. Since Athens sent each year to Crete A batch of folks for him to eat; ’Till on King Minos Athens soured, For no one likes to be devoured. Just as the folks of Athens had Prepared to risk their all in war, Young Theseus, to the King, his dad, Proffered his services and swore That he would go to Crete and slay The Minotaur without delay; And so with helmet-box and grip He started on the fateful trip. Now, Minos had a daughter fair, Who was humane as well as Cretan, And all in all, she did not care To see the handsome stranger eaten. So she resolved that she would aid Young Theseus in his escapade, Although she knew her royal dad Would certainly be hopping mad. The Minotaur, King Minos kept Within a sort of mystic maze, And in those corridors, unswept, A man might wander, lost, for days. And Ariadne’s scheme, in fine, Was just to take a ball of twine And let the youth unroll the thing And so be guided by the string. All went as planned—oh, lucky star! The sword of Theseus soon was wet, And slaughtered was the Minotaur; The king had lost his gruesome pet. The lovers fled the monarch’s wrath But even on the homeward path The hero, bored to hear her weep, On Noxas left her fast asleep. The Moral is—you should not string Young men, unless you know them well; For love is an uncertain thing And strange young men, however swell, If loosely tied and quickly bored, Will quit you of their own accord. |
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