Menagerie

A fellow of the Royal Society his house
played host to a menagerie,
Where a penguin dressed in butler's tails
served him port and brought the mail.
His parakeets could impersonate
the st-st-stutter of the magistrate
who lived next door but rarely called
for he found no amusement in it all.
Evenings in were seldom tame for
he'd taught his pets to entertain,
The chimp would start on violin
and soon the others would join in,
An orangutan would play the spoons from
a repertoire of familiar tunes
And exotic birds would harmonise
for pale sweet meats and sugared flies