He dies and Nature, settling his affairs,
Parts his endowments among us, his heirs:
To every one a pinch of brain for seed,
And, to develop it, a pinch of greed.
Each thrifty heir, to make the gift suffice,
Buries the talent to manure the vice.
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Yawp, yawp, yawp!
It’s aye the rabble,And I to gabble,And hey! for the tale that is never done.‘Chant, chant, chant!To woo the reluctant vote.I would I were deadAnd my say were saidAnd my song were sung to its ultimate note.‘Stab, stab, stab!Ah! the weapon between my teethI’m sick of the flash of it;See how the slash of itMisses…
I lay in silence, dead. A woman came
‘May God be merciful.’ She spoke my name,And added, ‘It is strange to think him dead.‘He loved me well enough, but ‘t was his wayTo speak it lightly.’ Then, beneath her breath:‘Besides’ -I knew what further she would say,But then a footfall broke my dream of death.To-day the words are mine. I lay the roseUpon…
The Devil stood before the gate
Behind him, in his shadow, slunkClay Sheets in a perspiring funk.‘Saint Peter, see this season ticket,’Said Satan; ‘pray undo the wicket.’The sleepy Saint threw slight regardUpon the proffered bit of card,Signed by some clerical dead-beats:‘Admit the bearer and Clay Sheets.’Peter expanded all his eyes:”Clay Sheets?’-well, I’ll be damned!’ he cries.‘Our couches are of golden cloud;Nothing…
The Church’s compass, if you please,
Of variation;And many a soul has gone to griefOn this or that or t’other reefThrough faith unreckoning or briefMiscalculation.Misguidance is of perils chiefTo navigation.The obsequious thing makes, too, you’ll mark,Obeisance through a little arcOf declination;For Satan, fearing witches, drewFrom Death’s pale horse, one day, a shoe,And nailed it to his door to undoTheir machination.Since then…
With crow bones all the land is white,
Picked clean, they lie on the cumbered ground,And the politician’s paunch is round;And he strokes it down and across as he sings:‘I’ve eaten my fill of the legs and wings,The neck, the back, the pontifical nose,Breast, belly and gizzard, for everything goes.The meat that’s dark (and there’s none that’s white)Exceeded the need of my appetite,But…
Assembled in the parlor
The smiler and the snarlerAnd the guests of every sortThe elocution chapWith rhetoric on tap;The mimic and the funny dog;The social sponge; the money-hog;Vulgarian and dude;And the prude;The adiposing dameWith pimply face aflame;The kitten-playful virginVergin’ on to fifty years;The solemn-looking sturgeonOf a firm of auctioneers;The widower flirtatious;The widow all too gracious;The man with a proboscis…