Here's a suggestion for just plain pure cleverness. How about Henry C. Work's "My Grandfather's Clock." Don't laugh. The writing is brilliant, especially in the second verse: My grandfather said that of those he could hire
Not a servant more faithful he found
For it wasted no time, for it had but one desire
At the close of each day to be wound.
And it kept in its place
Not a frown upon its face
And its hands never hung by its side. . . This is fairly typical stuff from ol' Henry; puns, plays on words, subtle humor, sheer genius.