Scoundrel

Here’s yet another word

Of unknown origin,

And it’s fairly recent.

Such words can be charming,

Roguish among Latin,

Saxon, French, Arabic,

And other descendants

Or adoptions from known

Pedigrees—these orphans,

Not evolved, not authored,

Not first found in Shakespeare.

Did they live on the streets,

Emerge from children’s games,

Were they named in secret

By embarrassed parents

Dead before claiming them?

Oh, if whoever first

Pronounced the curse, scoundrel,

Could see their scoundrel now,

A sturdy word, pronounced

With gusto, denouncing

Low and literary

Characters equally,

See how it’s done them proud.