This Charley has a silver tongue
And the morals of an eel;
Legalistic pedantry coats his lies in sugar,
But there’s spice, and a knife:
Cross him at your peril.
Through the voyage of his ambition
Stands one thing tall,
Himself,
Straight in a crooked world:
He’s the very Devil.
The years go by; High Office calls;
History casts him in a favoured light:
Those who can hold back their spite.
Plaudits are won, gravitas restored:
Everyone forgets that Charley’s flawed.
Poem about a politician who sees himself as upright, with the means justifying the end. Eventually he reaches high office, where it’s convenient to forget his flaws.
