The Willows Let us drink to the emeu and eagle,- 'But Mary, uplifting her finger, Said, "Sadly this bar I mistrust,I fear that this bar does not trust. Oh, hasten! oh, let us not linger! Oh, fly!—let us fly-ere we must!" In terror she cried, letting sink her Parasol till it trailed in the dust,- Parasol till it trailed in the dust,- Then I pacified Mary, and kissed her, Then my heart it grew ashen and sober, 425 Well I know now I'm perfectly sober, Bret Harte. A BALLAD IN THE MANNER OF R - DY RD K - PL - NG As I was walkin' the jungle round, a-killin' of tigers an' time; I seed a kind of an author man a writin' a rousin' rhyme; 'E was writin' a mile a minute an' more, an' I sez to 'im, "'Oo are you?" Sez 'e, "I'm a poet-'er majesty's poet-soldier an' sailor, too!" An 'is poem began in Ispahan an' ended in Kalamazoo, An' after, I met 'im all over the world, a doin' of things a host; 'E 'ad one foot planted in Burmah, an' one on the Gloucester coast; 'Es 'alf a sailor an' 'alf a whaler, 'e's captain, cook and crew, But most a poet-'er majesty's poet-soldier an' sailor too! 'E's often Scot an' 'e's often not, but 'is work is never through For 'e laughs at blame, an' 'e writes for fame, an' a bit for revenoo, Bein' a poet-'er majesty's poet-soldier an' sailor too! 'E'll take you up to the Ar'tic zone, 'e'll take you down to the Nile, 'E'll give you a barrack ballad in the Tommy Atkins style, Or 'e'll sing you a Dipsy Chantey, as the bloomin' bo'suns do, For 'e is a poet-'er majesty's poet-soldier an' sailor too. An' there isn't no room for others, an' there's nothin' left to do; Commonplaces 427 'E 'as sailed the main from the 'Orn to Spain, 'e 'as tramped the jungle through, An' written up all there is to write-soldier an' sailor, too! There are manners an' manners of writin', but 'is is the proper way, An' it ain't so hard to be a bard if you'll imitate Rudyard K.; But sea an' shore an' peace an' war, an' everything else in view 'E 'as gobbled the lot!-'er majesty's poet-soldier an' sailor, too. 'E's not content with 'is Indian 'ome, 'e's looking for regions new, In another year 'e'll ave swept 'em clear, an' what'll the rest of us do? 'E's crowdin' us out!-'er majesty's poet-soldier an' sailor too! Guy Wetmore Carryl. THE TRANSLATED WAY Being a lyric translation of Heine's "Du bist wie eine Blume," as it is usually done. THOU art like unto a Flower, So pure and clean thou art; To me it seems my Hands I Franklin P. Adams. COMMONPLACES RAIN on the face of the sea, Rain on the sodden land, And the window-pane is blurred with rain As I watch it, pen in hand. Mist on the face of the sea, Mist on the sodden land, Voices from out of the mist, "Hath love an end, thou more than friend, Voices from out of the mist, Calling and passing away; But I cannot speak, for my voice is weak, Rudyard Kipling ANGELO ORDERS HIS DINNER I, ANGELO, obese, black-garmented, And craveth plainness: do I so? Perhaps; As Lippo yonder, built upon the plan The Promissory Note Of heavy storage, double-navelled, fat You understand? A venison haunch, haut gout. And sprigs of anise, might one's teeth provoke 429 Bayard Taylor. THE PROMISSORY NOTE IN the lonesome latter years (Fatal years!) To the dropping of my tears Danced the mad and mystic spheres 'Neath the moon, To the dripping and the dropping of my tears. Ah, my soul is swathed in gloom, (Ulalume!) In a dim Titanic tomb, For my gaunt and gloomy soul Ponders o'er the penal scroll, O'er the parchment (not a rhyme), (Oh, the fifty!) |