Getting on the bus

The Motor Bus - a macaronic poem written in 1914 by Alfred Denis Godley . I bet not many out there know what "macaronic" means, I didn't know till I happened to stumble across it a couple of weeks ago - it's a poem written in more than one language. Here we go, Godley's wonderful "The Motor Bus".


    What is this that roareth thus?
    Can it be a Motor Bus?
    Yes, the smell and hideous hum
    Indicat Motorem Bum!
    Implet in the Corn and High
    Terror me Motoris Bi:
    Bo Motori clamitabo
    Ne Motore caedar a Bo---
    Dative be or Ablative
    So thou only let us live:---
    Whither shall thy victims flee?
    Spare us, spare us, Motor Be!
    Thus I sang; and still anigh
    Came in hordes Motores Bi,
    Et complebat omne forum
    Copia Motorum Borum.
    How shall wretches live like us
    Cincti Bis Motoribus?
    Domine, defende nos
    Contra hos Motores Bos!