To you whom last I saw absorbing lunch ('Twas at the Cheshire Cheese, O princely gleeman!), To you, sagacious editor of @3Punch@1, In point of fact, to you, Sir Owen Seaman, I tune my dulcimer; for you is blown My plaintive saxophone. Yet can you prize a meagre serenade When every week you have your Charivari? Who marks another star, but feebly rayed, When all his sky is gloriously starry? But though you want no medals, anyhow I'll pin one on you now: Because you knew your task -- to hearten men For griefs that were and griefs to come thereafter. When all the world went mad, you proved again The saving sanity of valiant laughter And reared against the tyrannies of earth Indomitable mirth. Besides, what edifying lights you throw On Uncle Sam, his nephews and his nieces! What curious Americans you know! They constitute an unfamiliar species Whose habitat is England; for, it's queer, We never meet them here. Their speech is odd; to us it's heathen Greek. They swagger so! they strike fantastic poses. Their slang is weird and shamefully antique. They brag profusely, always through their noses, And drawl persistently, in joy or stress, "I reckon," or "I guess." Enough of that. What difference does it make! For when did brother fail to mock at brother? Then let us mock for old acquaintance' sake And have our quips and flings at one another; And while we laugh, "What fools @3we@1 mortals be!" Let's emphasize the "@3we@1" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LETTERS TO DEAD IMAGISTS by CARL SANDBURG THE GRANDMOTHER'S APOLOGY by ALFRED TENNYSON A RECEIPT FOR WRITING A NOVEL by MARY (CUMBERLAND) ALCOCK CHRISTMAS LULLABY by MARY KATUS ANDERSON PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 50. AL-BAHITH by EDWIN ARNOLD SAVONAROLA BROWN, SELECTION by HENRY MAXIMILIAN BEERBOHM AN EPITAPH ON MR.WM. HOPTON by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) THE PLUCKY PRINCE by MAY BRYANT PROLOGUE FOR MRS. SUTHERLAND'S BENEFIT NIGHT by ROBERT BURNS |