And as for the duck, I think God must have smiled a bit Seeing those bright eyes blink on the day He fashioned it. And He's probably laughing still at the sound that came out of its bill! FATHER WILLIAM BY LEWIS CARROLL "You are old, Father William," the young man said, "And your hair has become very white; And yet you incessantly stand on your headDo you think, at your age, it is right?" "In my youth," Father William replied to his son, But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none, "You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before, And have grown most uncommonly fat; Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door- "In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks, "I kept all my limbs very supple By the use of this ointment-one shilling the boxAllow me to sell you a couple." "You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak For anything tougher than suet; Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak Pray, how did you manage to do it?" "In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law, And argued each case with my wife; And the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw, Has lasted the rest of my life." "You are old," said the youth; "one would hardly suppose That your eye was as steady as ever; Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose— What made you so awfully clever?" "I have answered three questions, and that is enough," Said his father. "Don't give yourself airs! Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff? FIRST FIG1 BY EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY My candle burns at both ends; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends- VAGABONDIA BY RICHARD HOVEY Off with the fetters That chafe and restrain! Off with the chain! Here Art and Letters, Music and Wine, And Myrtle and Wanda, The winsome witches, Here are true riches, Here is Golconda, Here are the Indies, Here we are free Free as the wind is, Free as the sea, Free! 1 From a Few Figs from Thistles, published by Harper & Brothers, copyright, 1922, by Edna St. Vincent Millay. |