erisms, and a very
keen critic to boot. His is a useful, not a merely destructive,
function. He is no wanton debaser of the poetic currency. One might
rather call him a touchstone of true merit in poetry."--_Daily
Chronicle_.

"A new volume from the pen of Mr. Owen Seaman must needs be welcome.
He is the most accomplished versifier among all our jesters."--_The
Globe_.

"The parodies in Mr. Seaman's new volume are wonderful examples of
this difficult art; the Stephen Phillips, the Alfred Austin, the
Watts-Dunton, and the George Meredith are faultless."--_Academy_.

"Mr. Owen Seaman has already made his reputation as, perhaps, the
surest modern poet to make you laugh, and the nature of his new
collection of copies of verse cannot be better described than by
saying that it is well worthy of his hand.... The book is heartsome
and delightful all through."--_The Scotsman_.

"The present vogue of Mr. Owen Seaman's delightful parodies is very
great."--_Liverpool Courier_.

JOHN LANE: The Bodley Head, London & New York.

* * * * *

Transcriber Notes

Typographical inconsistencies have been changed and are listed below.

Hyphenation standardized and is also listed below.

Archaic and variable spelling is preserved.

Author's punctuation style is preserved, including some hyphenated
words that are integral to a poem.

Passages in italics indicated by _underscores_.

Passages in bold indicated by =equal signs=.

Transcriber Changes

The following changes were made to the original text:

Page 22: Was 'bellettrist' ('Heed not =belletrist= jargon.')

Page 45: Was 'lachrimal' (Year that has painfully tickled the
=lachrymal= nerves of the Muses)

Page 84: Added semi-colon after 'Pyrrhics' (Broke out in unexpected
=Pyrrhics;=)

Page 88: Was 'applys' and 'precison' (Mr. Seaman cracks the whip
with consummate skill, and =applies= it with such naughty
=precision=, that even his victims must find it difficult
to withhold their admiration.)

Page 89: Changed to single quotes (in modern times there has been
nothing so good of its sort as ='Tillers of the Sand.'=)

Advertisements: Changed to single quotes (the dancing light of
humour, make up the motley which is the true
jester's ='only wear'=; and under his flashes of
merriment is a sober, sound