The Ambulance Down in the Valley - long poem

[oregonjen]

Has anyone heard this before? Many years ago, I did and I think it is worth sharing with DU.



The Ambulance Down in the Valley
author unknown

T'was a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed,
Though to walk near its edge was quite pleasant.
But over the side slipped a Duke and a Prince,
And it fooled many a peasant.

The people all said that something had to be done,
Though their projects did not at all tally.
Some said put a fence around the edge of the cliff,
Others an ambulance down in the valley


The lament of the crowd was so loud and profound
As their hearts overflowed with great pity.
But the ambulance carried the cry of the day
As it spread to the neighbouring city.


A collection was made to accumulate aid
And dwellers in highway and alley,
Gave pounds and pence, not to furnish a fence,
But an ambulance down in the valley


For the cliff is alright if you're careful they said
And if folks ever trip and are falling,
Its not the slipping and sliding that hurts,
So much as the shock when they are stopping.


And so on for years as these mishaps occurred,
Quick forth the rescuers sallied,
To pick up victims that fell from the cliff,
With an ambulance down in the valley.


Said one in his plea, its a marvel to me,
That you'd give so much greater attention,
To repairing the results than to curing the cause;
Why you'd much better aim at prevention.


The mischief of course, should be stopped at its source.
Come friends and good neighbours lets rally.
It makes far better sense to rely on a fence,
Than an ambulance down in the valley.


He's wrong in his head the majority said.
He would end all our earnest endeavours.
He's the kind of a jerk that would end all our good work, ...... But we will support it forever.


Don't we pick up them all just as quick as they fall,
And treat them with care quite liberally.
A superfluous fence is of no consequence,
If the ambulance works down in the valley


Well this storey is queer as I've given it here,
Though things often occur that are stranger.
More humane we assert to repair all the hurt,
Than the plan of removing the danger.


Before it all ends, it is time to attend
To all things rationally.
Yes, build up the fence, and let us dispense,
With the ambulance down in the valley.