Tyson - A Long Haired Basset Hound

Tyson - A Long Haired Basset Hound

Born in a taxi - nine times a brother
Velveteen ears and bones of rubber.

Shaggy of coat in russet and black
The folds of his skin hung down like a sack

With massive paws at the perpendicular
And a back so long it was nearly articular.

Picking him up him up by the scruff of the neck
The scruff went up, but he stayed on the deck.

First to arrive - so pleased to stay
He filled every minute with an hour's worth of play.

An agreeable hound who would always concur
Whatever we asked - wherever we were.

A prince among thieves; in his glory hole
Hid long empty tins and a scoured sugar bowl.

Worried by sheep, the cows made him quail
But a scourge of dead fish, and the inglorious snail.

Ah! But he had a sterner side; one that none could quell!
Giving tongue along a scent with rampant, feathered tail.
Proud pennon of the basset pack
Proclaiming its path through bracken and track.
No gorse could deter him, no bramble detain
Impervious to distance, tiredness or pain.

Jauntily he trod the mayfly measure
From the litter to the grave.
Golden the gift of lasting pleasure
That his fleeting passage gave.