Thomas Gainsborough, British
Petrified, William Thought That If He Sat Very Still, the Dog Might Mistake Him For a Poodle and Go Away, 1771
Oil on canvas
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Info, or links that point to more info, about this artist can be found here, here, here, here, here (can be read in full for free on Fridays), here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, perhaps in addition to what’s in his Wikipedia page.
/// H.M.’s Court of Exchequer he’d audit,
but when anyone said the word “fraud,” it
made Lowndes cower and quake
that he’d made some mistake.
William never got one single plaudit.
/// His pet spaniel sat near William’s leg.
Then they heard the words, “Sit up and beg!”
‘Twas Gainsborough who’d cried,
but then William complied,
and went home to consume a whole keg.
/// William’s visage looks frightened and meek.
Eighty-four years old; addled and weak.
For this portrait he’d pay,
but has nothing to say.
It’s his DOG who responds when told, “Speak!”
/// Lowndes holds onto his stout walking stick,
and Gainsborough is skillful and slick.
These men chose different paths.
William loves doing maths
but oil paintings are Thomas’s pick.
/// He was fortunate not to live now,
when the crooks simply break every vow.
Laws not broken are bent
and our tax money’s spent
to help billionaires pump up the Dow.