Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A DOUBLE-BARRELLED SONNET TO MARK TWAIN: 2. SECOND BARREL, by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A DOUBLE-BARRELLED SONNET TO MARK TWAIN: 2. SECOND BARREL, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Oh, no! Hold on!' I hear his voice implore
Last Line: "we will dine with you here till sunday night."
Alternate Author Name(s): Howells, W. D.
Subject(s): Twain, Mark (samuel Langhorne Clemens)


"Oh, no! Hold on!" I hear his voice implore,
"You are mistaken; it is not the case
The Colonel, to save the Sabbath from disgrace,
Calls this my birthday. But, in fact, before
The thirtieth—and there still are two days more—
You cannot make me more than sixty-six."
"In vain!" the inexorable Muse replies.
"It may be so; but as the executrix
Of your own theory of convenient lies,
I must insist upon the Colonel's date.
Besides, what matter whether soon or late
Your birthday comes whose fame all dates defies?
Still, to have everything beyond cavil right,
We will dine with you here till Sunday night."





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