no diplomatic voice

across the river live the stranger folk
we cannot understand their normal speech
they will not yield to our most benign yoke

you see me here an ordinary bloke
but to their standards i can't hope to reach
across the river live the stranger folk

they do not know the tongue of ash and oak
nor can they read the words of thorn and beech
they will not yield to our most benign yoke

our darker sentiments we may not cloak
by seeming humbly to beg and beseech
across the river live the stranger folk

we say like stupid frogs they have to croak
on their fat herds we need so much to leech
they will not yield to our most benign yoke

on their hard language we now have to choke
they say to us we only shout and screech
across the river live the stranger folk
they will not yield to our most benign yoke