J.,
Daily absorbs a clay
After his labors.
Cats may have had their goose
Cooked by tobacco juice;
Still, why deny its use
Thoughtfully taken?
We're not as tabbies are;
Smith, take a fresh cigar!
Jones, the tobacco jar!
Here's to thee, Bacon!
C.S. CALVERLY.
ON RECEIPT OF A RARE PIPE.
I lifted off the lid with anxious care,
Removed the wrappages, stripe after stripe,
And when the hidden contents were laid bare,
My first remark was: "Mercy, what a pipe!"
A pipe of symmetry that matched its size,
Mounted with metal bright,--a sight to see;
With the rich amber hue that smokers prize,
Attesting both its age and pedigree.
A pipe to make the royal Friedrich jealous,
Or the great Teufelsdroeckh with envy gripe!
A man should hold some rank above his fellows
To justify his smoking such a pipe!
What country gave it birth? What blest of cities
Saw it first kindle at the glowing coal?
What happy artist murmured, "Nunc dimittis,"
When he had fashioned this transcendent bowl?
Has it been hoarded in a monarch's treasures?
Was it a gift of peace, or prize of war?
Did the great Khalif in his "House of Pleasures"
Wager and lose it to the good Zaafar?
It may have soothed mild Spenser's melancholy,
While musing o'er traditions of the past,
Or graced the lips of brave Sir Walter Raleigh,
Ere sage King Jamie blew his "_Counterblast_.
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