When Noah hewed the timber
Wherewith to build the ark,
Outside the woods one shouted—
'That wild fanatic!—hark!'
And when he drew the beams
And laid them on the plain,
One said,'He has no balance,
He surely is insane.'
And when he raised the frame,
One clear, sunshiny day,
'Poor fool of one idea,'
A smiling man did say.
When he foretold the flood,
And stood repentance teaching,
They sneered, 'You radical,
We'll hear no ultra preaching!'
And when he drove the beasts and birds
Into the ark one morn,
They shouted, 'Odd enthusiast!'
And laughed with ringing scorn.
When he and all his house went in,
They gazed, and said, 'Erratic!'
'A pleasant voyage to you, Noah!
You canting, queer fanatic!'