NOBLESSE UNOBLIGED

Phil Roberts 1957 (Melbourne)



The rich folk now feel unobliged
To ever help those living rough,
The rich folk say, “Why should we help?
“The poor can just get stuffed!”

Noblesse oblige is now out of vogue
Indeed it is dying fast,
The rich folk will not hear of it
This relic is from a better past.

“Why should we help those on the street?”
Say the millionaires and more,
“We’ve given all we’ve got to give
“Until our walk-in safe’s are sore.”

Yes the rich folk are doing it tough
Now being asked to pay some tax,
“We’ve never heard of such a thing!
“Please bring the Fascist Party back!”

Yes under Tony Abbott
The rich folk knew only joy,
For Abbott only taxed the poor
The rich said, “Tony's our boy!”

The Most Evil Goods and Service Tax
Took money from every charity,
And gave it back to billionaires
Abbott said, “That’s fine parity.”

Abbott had his mates at heart
Like any fascist through and through,
He’d help the rich evade their taxes
Nothing was too much to do.

“The rich are born for luxury
“The losers must help themselves,
“Don’t come whining,” said Tony boy
“They will not get any help.”

“We’d have to tax our mates then
“And God we can’t do that,
“We decided we will not help the poor
“And there’s just no going back.”

So in the streets of Melbourne Town
The poor are forced to live and die,
“Give the bastards cake to eat!”
Was Tony's sick battle cry.

THE END
© Copyright 2021, Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

About this poem

Despite what the rich like to believe, correctly translated Noblesse Oblige means, "The rich shall take care of the poor." Unfortunately "take care of" has more than one meaning these days, and the filthy rich seem to prefer the one which involves sending around goons with uzis.

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Written on January 20, 2011

Submitted by PHIL_ROBERTS on July 16, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:22 min read
1

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCA XAAA ADXD BEXF AGHG EAXA AXXA XXGC XAHF XAAX AXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,443
Words 273
Stanzas 11
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3

Phil Roberts

I turn 65 on the 31st of January 2022. I love cats, rock music, and horror fiction and poetry more…

All Phil Roberts poems | Phil Roberts Books

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