But should you cross it West to East, it may your mind confuse:
For then the date repeats, and it seems rather fine
To have another birthday, as you cross the Line...
This strange occurrence was once used by Jules Verne, you recall,
In his tale about a chap that went around the world,
And thought he'd lost his bet by arriving a day late,
But he really won, because of the repeated date...
And recently – in 2016 – a solar eclipse was seen
East of the Date Line, by some observers keen,
The start of the eclipse-- it was March 9th the date
And it ended – across the Line – on the day March the 8th
And so this astronomical event, as as you easily see can,
End a day earlier than it, in fact, began...