Lover. Echo! mysterious nymph, declare
Of what you ’re made, and what you are.
Echo. Air!
Lover. Mid airy cliffs and places high,
Sweet Echo! listening love, you lie.
Echo. You lie!
Lover. Thou dost resuscitate dead sounds,—
Hark! how my voice revives, resounds!
Echo...
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I Asked of Echo, t’ other day,
(Whose words are few and often funny,)
What to a novice she could say
Of courtship, love, and matrimony.
Quoth Echo, plainly,—“Matter-o’-money!”Whom should I marry?—should it be
A dashing damsel, gay and pert,
A pattern of inconstancy;
Or selfish, mercenary flirt?
Quoth Echo,... -
Miss Flora MCFLIMSEY, of Madison Square,
Has made three separate journeys to Paris,
And her father assures me, each time she was there,
That she and her friend Mrs. Harris
(Not the lady whose name is so famous in history,
But plain Mrs. H., without romance or mystery)
Spent six consecutive weeks without stopping
In one continuous... -
She was rich and of high degree;
A poor and unknown artist he.
“Paint me,” she said, “a view of the sea.”So he painted the sea as it looked the day
That Aphroditè arose from its spray;
And it broke, as she gazed on its face the while,
Into its countless-dimpled smile.
“What a poky, stupid picture!” said she:
“I don’t believe he... -
A Legend of Gotham
O, TERRIBLY proud was Miss MacBride,
The very personification of pride,
As she minced along in fashion’s tide,
Adown Broadway—on the proper side—
When the golden sun was setting;
There was pride in the head she carried so high,
Pride in her lip, and pride in her eye,
And a world of pride in the very sigh... -
Time has a magic wand!
What is this meets my hand,
Moth-eaten, mouldy, and
Covered with fluff,
Faded and stiff and scant?
Can it be? no, it can’t,—
Yes,—I declare ’t is Aunt
Prudence’s Muff!Years ago—twenty-three!
Old Uncle Barnaby
Gave it to Aunty P.,
Laughing and teasing,—
“Pru. of... -
A Place under Government
Was all that Paddy wanted.
He married soon a scolding wife,
And thus his wish was granted. -
Saint Anthony at church
Was left in the lurch,
So he went to the ditches
And preached to the fishes;
They wriggled their tails,
In the sun glanced their scales.The carps, with their spawn,
Are all hither drawn;
Have opened their jaws,
Eager for each clause.
No sermon beside
Had the carps so... -
From “Percy’s Reliques”
AN ANCIENT story I ’ll tell you anon
Of a notable prince that was called King John;
And he ruled England with main and with might,
For he did great wrong, and maintained little right.And I ’ll tell you a story, a story so merry,
Concerning the Abbot of Canterbury;
How for his house-keeping and high renowne,... -
From “The Myrtle and the Vine”
A JOLLY fat friar loved liquor good store,
And he had drunk stoutly at supper;
He mounted his horse in the night at the door,
And sat with his face to the crupper:
“Some rogue,” quoth the friar, “quite dead to remorse,
Some thief, whom a halter will throttle,
Some scoundrel has cut off the head of my...