I remember a story (read in the 1960s – 1970s), and I’m not sure if it was a stand-alone or a featured story in a collection. It was a funny rhyming story about a king who started taxing everything in his kingdom, until finally the people revolted. I only remember bits and pieces, but the lines I remember are:
“A plague (?) on Max’s taxes! They are anything but fair. He taxes both our income and our patience, we declare!” and…
“So up they rose upon their toes…” and then something about going into the palace. The final line is something like “they stuck their tacks in Max!”.
Any ideas/suggestions?
I searched in Google Books on “our patience, we declare” and found a bit more. Unfortunately, it only gave me a snippet view, so I couldn’t see the book title. The previous lines I was allowed to see are “…Either Max or tax!/The outcome is, our income/Won’t even buy us snacks!” It was in The New York Times Book Review, volume 1, Arno Press, 1969.
I think it might be “Would you put your money in a sand bank?” by Harold S. Longman.
I found the review Lenona referenced. It is for _Would You Put Your Money in a Sand Bank_ by Harold Longman, published by Rand McNally, and is described as a collection of riddles, puns, and silly poems. The review features an illustration with the poem about Max (which looks to be 16 lines total: four 4-line stanzas about “A wicked king named Max,” ending when the people “Went marching to the palace / And stuck the tacks in Max”).
YES! Thanks for the above. I actually hadn’t checked back here in a while, but another book person I know also gave me the hint about Would You Put Your Money in a Sand Bank. The “max” poem is indeed short, but apparently it had a lasting impact!