at? Let's reach the heart of you
And see the funny part of you.
For what? I find the soul and seed
Of it is not your lack or need,
Or even merely vulgar greed.
Gold? You may have a store of it,
But someone else has more of it.
Fame? Pretty things are said of you,
But--some one is ahead of you.
Place? You disprize your easy one
For some one's high and breezy one.

(I smile these smiles to soothe my soul,
But squint one eye upon the goal.)

Tell me! what's your capacity
Compared to your voracity?
_I_ guess
'T is less.
And so I strike these attitudes
And tender you these platitudes;--
Not wishing wealth, or spurning it,
Not hoarding it, or burning it
Is equal to the earning it.
Life's race is in the riding it,
Not in the word deciding it.
And after all is said and uttered
The keenest taste is bread-and-buttered.

(And yet--and yet--my palate aches
For pallid pie and pasty cakes!)

[Illustration: The Bubble-Flies

_Page 61._]

QUALIFIED.

I love to see my friend succeed;
I love to praise him; yes, indeed!
And so, no doubt, do you.
But will you tell me why it is
The praise we parcel out as his
So often goes askew,
And ends by running in the rut
Of "if," "except" or "but"?

"Boggs is a clever chap. His trade
Is doubling yearly, and he's made
A fortune all right, but----"
"Sharp is elected. Well, I say!
He'll hit a high mark yet, some day,
If----" (here one eye is shut).
"Such acting! Why, I laughed and wept!
Fobb's art is great--except."

"Miss Hautton has such queenly grace.
And then her figure and her face!
She'd be a beauty if----"
"And Mrs. Follol entertains
With so much taste and so much pains;
But----" (here a little sniff).
"And Mrs. Caste has ever kept
The narrow path--except."

I wish some man were great and good
That I might praise him all I could
And never add a "but."
I would that some would value me
And never hint what I would be
"If"--but why cavil? Tut!
Eternal justice still is kept
And Heaven is good--except!

[Illustration: Yesterday's laurels are dry and dead

_Page 65._]

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Do you lazily nurse your knee and muse?
Do you contemplate your conquering thews