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1811–1863

COMMANDERS OF THE FAITHFUL.

William Makepeace Thackeray

The Pope he is a happy man, His Palace is the Vatican, And there he sits and drains his can: The Pope he is a happy man.

I often say when I'm at home, I'd like to be the Pope of Rome. And then there's Sultan Saladin, That Turkish Soldan full of sin;

He has a hundred wives at least, By which his pleasure is increased: I've often wished, I hope no sin, That I were Sultan Saladin.

But no, the Pope no wife may choose, And so I would not wear his shoes; No wine may drink the proud Paynim, And so I'd rather not be him:

My wife, my wine, I love, I hope, And would be neither Turk nor Pope.

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COMMANDERS OF THE FAITHFUL. · William Makepeace Thackeray · Poetry Cove