1. The Poet

There was a young poet of note
Who'd learned his religion by rote,
And fearful of Hades
He shunned all the ladies
And capered away with a goat.

2. The Priest

There once was a minister Claude
Whose ways were decidedly odd:
In love with a dancer,
He tried to romance her
By off'ring her up to his God.

3. The Scholar

When Jehan's finances were stable
He'd buy all the beer he was able;
With coin from his brother
He'd order another
And drink himself under the table.

4. The Brothers

Two Frollos with different pleas
By day and by night bent their knees:
The one had been told
That the sun's made of gold;
The other, the moon's made of cheese.

5. The Rivals

There once was an Archdeacon Frollo --
Alas, but this title proved hollow.
He learned with surprise
That, in Romany eyes,
"Archdeacon"'s no match for "Apollo."

6. La Esmeralda

The damsel addressed in this stave
Enchanted all men, knight and knave,
Priest, captain, and poet,
And (though she'd ne'er know it)
A Pope even crawled in her grave.

7. The Gypsy

There once was a gypsy girl who
Of fashion had nary a clue.
Confusion most rare:
Her feet she left bare,
But strung 'round her neck was a shoe.

8. The Coin

There once was a coin paid discretely,
Which afterward vanished completely,
Transformed, we are told,
To autumn-leaf gold --
Claude's alchemy backfired most neatly.