In Residence

BALLADE OF GUIDELESS CLIMBING “ THE climbers who guidelessly scale The rocks of the Eiger are rash. Far wiser the tourists”! who fail On the Breithorn, and horribly gnash Their teeth as they shell out the cash To their leaders decidedly drunk ; They stick to the full calabash And turn from the wall of the Ménch. The climber should never be frail, Should thrive on a morsel of hash. At cliffs he must not become pale Nor tremble when glaciers crash. He must carelessly knock out the ash From his pipe while a terrible chunk Of rock hurtles by like a flash,— Or turn from the wall of the Ménch. His courage owes nothing to ale; His nerve needs not alcohol’s lash ; He'd sniff if a cachalot whale Came out of a pool with a splash 1 The quotation is from the English Alpine Club. 23