"Jack"

Since Stanley felt the icy blast
   Jack leads the Opposition.
A mild, scholastic man to cast
   For such a tough position.
Fit for some rude iconoclast
   Or thick-skinned politician.

His academic mind e'er seeks
   Direct appeals to reason;
He thinks a deal before he speaks,
   And ever speaks in season.
Quibbling, to him, with folly reeks,
   And sophistry is treason.

All sentiment he safely locks
   Within; and jokes unnerve him;
No soap or any other box
   As pedestal would serve him.
He'd analyse a paradox;
   And jibes can never swerve him.

A poor equipment, this, you'd say,
   To meet the hurly-burly.
Where votes are wheedled in a way
   Both devious and curly.
We may grow up to Jack some day.
   He's sound, but somewhat early.