FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69  
70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   >>   >|  
e white on one side." . . . . . . . . . . There's a slice near the PICKEREL'S pectoral fins, Where the thorax leaves off and the venter begins, Which his brother, survivor of fish-hooks and lines, Though fond of his family, never declines. He loves his relations; he feels they'll be missed; But that one little tidbit he cannot resist; So your bait may be swallowed, no matter how fast, For you catch your next fish with a piece of the last. And thus, O survivor, whose merciless fate Is to take the next hook with the president's bait, You are lost while you snatch from the end of his line The morsel he rent from this bosom of mine! A MODEST REQUEST COMPLIED WITH AFTER THE DINNER AT PRESIDENT EVERETT'S INAUGURATION SCENE,--a back parlor in a certain square, Or court, or lane,--in short, no matter where; Time,--early morning, dear to simple souls Who love its sunshine and its fresh-baked rolls; Persons,--take pity on this telltale blush, That, like the AEthiop, whispers, "Hush, oh hush!" Delightful scene! where smiling comfort broods, Nor business frets, nor anxious care intrudes; _O si sic omnia_ I were it ever so! But what is stable in this world below? _Medio e fonte_,--Virtue has her faults,-- The clearest fountains taste of Epsom salts; We snatch the cup and lift to drain it dry,-- Its central dimple holds a drowning fly Strong is the pine by Maine's ambrosial streams, But stronger augers pierce its thickest beams; No iron gate, no spiked and panelled door, Can keep out death, the postman, or the bore. Oh for a world where peace and silence reign, And blunted dulness verebrates in vain! --The door-bell jingles,--enter Richard Fox, And takes this letter from his leathern box. "Dear Sir,-- In writing on a former day, One little matter I forgot to say; I now inform you in a single line, On Thursday next our purpose is to dine. The act of feeding, as you understand, Is but a fraction of the work in hand; Its nobler half is that ethereal meat The papers call 'the intellectual treat;' Songs, speeches, toasts, around the festive board Drowned in the juice the College pumps afford; For only water flanks our knives and forks, So, sink or float, we swim without the corks. Yours is the art, by native genius taught, To clothe in eloquence the naked thought; Yours is the skill its music to prolong Through the sweet effluence of mellifluous song; Yours the quaint t
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69  
70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

matter

 

snatch

 

survivor

 
blunted
 

silence

 

dulness

 

postman

 

leathern

 

letter

 
Through

effluence

 

jingles

 

Richard

 
verebrates
 

drowning

 

quaint

 

Strong

 

dimple

 

central

 

thickest


spiked

 

pierce

 
augers
 

mellifluous

 

ambrosial

 

streams

 

stronger

 
panelled
 

toasts

 
genius

native
 

festive

 
speeches
 

clothe

 
taught
 

intellectual

 

afford

 

flanks

 

knives

 

Drowned


College

 

papers

 

single

 

Thursday

 

purpose

 

inform

 

prolong

 

forgot

 
feeding
 

eloquence