Posts categorized “franklin”.

Le Sage et la Goutte

February 19th, 2008

by Madame Brillon

“Modorntion, Bear Doctor,” said the Gout,
“Is no vivtiee for which you stand out.
You like food, you like ladies’ sweet talk,
You play chess wlen you should walk.”

[Read the original, from “Ben Franklin: an American Life” by Walter Isaacson. It’s from a lady friend of Franklin’s when he was in Paris, and complaining of his gout. M. Brillon’s poem shows how it could be Franklin’s own fault.]

Jack, eating rotten cheese, did say…

February 12th, 2008

by Benjamin Franklin

Jackson, eating rotten cheese, did say,
Live Sumson I by thousands stay;
Low, quoth Roger, so you do.
And with the self-same weapon, too.

[Read the original. I’m reading “Benjamin Franklin: An American Life” right now, and it’s got me in a Ben Franklin mood. Very good book for those interested in the original true American.]