> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.hawkword.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Cried Uncle
- URL: https://www.hawkword.com/poetry/cried-uncle/
- Published: 2022-06-02T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2022-06-02T12:00:00.000Z
- Description: I asked Onegin's famous uncle -- ran into him at a soiree: "What have you done that would so rankle your nephew, Eugene, that he'd say these things. Compare you to a donkey? How dare this upstart, tall and swanky say...
- Author: A. Gee
- Tags: Poetry, Sonnet, Allpoetry Import, #Import 2026-04-25 19:56

I asked Onegin's famous uncle --  
ran into him at a soiree:  
"What have you done that would so rankle  
your nephew, Eugene, that he'd say  
these things. Compare you to a donkey?  
How dare this upstart, tall and swanky  
say that he wishes you to hell?  
How IS your health? Trust all is well?"  
The uncle waved his hand. "He's SO mean,  
In truth, I wasn't too surprised.  
But that's ok, I've since revised  
my will and testament, so Eugene  
will not receive a single cent.  
Now, who's the jackass, tell me, gent."

---

**Author notes:** For those who've read a translation of Onegin, or even the original but don't know what the donkey allusion is all about, the first line of Onegin in Russian almost perfectly matches a line about a donkey in a Krilov allegorical fable, with some debate as to who used the allusion first, and whether one purposely alluded to the other. https://rvb.ru/18vek/krylov/01text/vol3/01fables/159.htm