The Landau

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.  Praed
--The Muse Among the Motors (1900-1930)

There  was a landau deep and wide,
  Cushioned for Sleep's own self to sit on-
The glory of the country-side
  From Tanner's End to Marlow Ditton.
John of the broad and brandied cheek
  (Well I recall its eau-de-vie hues!)
Drove staid Sir Ralph five days a week
  At speeds which we considered Jehu's…

But now' poor John sleeps very sound,
  And neither hears nor smells the fuss
Of the young Squire's nine-hundred-pound-
Er-Mors communis omnibus.
And I who in my daily stroll
  Observe the reckless chauffeur crowd her,
Laudator temporis, extol
  The times before the Act allowed her.

© Rudyard Kipling