THESE are the things that make me laugh -- Life's a preposterous farce, say I! And I've missed of too many jokes by half. The high-heeled antics of colt and calf, The men who think they can act, and try -- These are the things that make me laugh. The hard-boiled poses in photograph, The groom still wearing his wedding tie -- And I've missed of too many jokes by half! These are the bubbles I gayly quaff With the rank conceit of the new-born fly -- These are the things that make me laugh! For, Heaven help me! I needs must chaff, And people will tickle me till I die -- And I've missed of too many jokes by half! So write me down in my epitaph As one too fond of his health to cry -- These are the things that make me laugh, And I've missed of too many jokes by half! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MOTHER TO SON by JAMES LANGSTON HUGHES ON MILTON'S PARADISE LOST by ANDREW MARVELL FIREFLY; A SONG by ELIZABETH MADOX ROBERTS BEAT! BEAT! DRUMS! by WALT WHITMAN EIGHTEEN SIXTY-ONE by WALT WHITMAN SONG OF SLAVES IN THE DESERT by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER POVERTY AND POETRY by WILLIAM BROOME |