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Hi, my ancestors were boot and shoe makers by trade. My great, great, great grandfathers obituary (1899) contains the following poem. I think the Alexander to which it refers must be Alexander the Great. Does anyone know the source of the poem?:


The Tailor and the shoe maker can lift their heads as men,
Far better than Alexander, could he rise to life again
And think of all that bloodshed
And all for nothing too
And ask himself what made I as useful as a shoe
Any ideas ?
I hope someone can help.
Many thanks

Simon.

I haven't found the poem, but I've found this :
http://fairytales4u.com/story2/shoetail.htmI think that it originates from Hans Christian Andersen, whose father was a shoemaker. Where were your shoemaker ancestors from ? This might give a clue to where the poem came from.Susan

I don't know the source, but the type of poem (a description of a trade, with a more or less moralistic undertone) was common in the seventeenth century. Often, these poems were printed together with a picture. (You can find a Dutch collection at http://www.janluyken.com/index-en.htm .) I don't know enough about the English language, but isn't it so that "men" and "again" don't rhyme anymore? If so, this suggests a rather early date.Jona

Hi Jonah,Men and again rhyme fine. I've made worse rhymes in my epic, and have probably used men/again at least once. It's a very subjective phenomenon. When reading a poem, a rhyme may jump out at us as non-functional, however, when read aloud, it may seem just fine as the human ear is less picky to the precision that our eyes afford us. As an example some words from the conclusion of my epic...embarkest and darkness, or ocean and heaven...later Nicator

"Men and again rhyme fine."okay!Jona