Shapes of Clay

HUMILITY.

  Great poets fire the world with fagots big
    That make a crackling racket,
  But I'm content with but a whispering twig
    To warm some single jacket.

ONE PRESIDENT.

  'What are those, father?' 'Statesmen, my child—
  Lacrymose, unparliamentary, wild.'
  'What are they that way for, father?' 'Last fall,
  'Our candidate's better,' they said, 'than all!''
  'What did they say he was, father?' 'A man
  Built on a straight incorruptible plan—
  Believing that none for an office would do
  Unless he were honest and capable too.'
  'Poor gentlemen—so disappointed!' 'Yes, lad,
  That is the feeling that's driving them mad;
  They're weeping and wailing and gnashing because
  They find that he's all that they said that he was.'

THE BRIDE.

  'You know, my friends, with what a brave carouse
  I made a second marriage in my house—
    Divorced old barren Reason from my bed
  And took the Daughter of the Vine to spouse.'
  So sang the Lord of Poets. In a gleam
  Of light that made her like an angel seem,
    The Daughter of the Vine said: 'I myself
  Am Reason, and the Other was a Dream.'

STRAINED RELATIONS.

  Says England to Germany: 'Africa's ours.'
    Says Germany: 'Ours, I opine.'
  Says Africa: 'Tell me, delectable Pow'rs,
    What is it that ought to be mine?'

THE MAN BORN BLIND.

  A man born blind received his sight
    By a painful operation;
  And these are things he saw in the light
    Of an infant observation.
  He saw a merchant, good and wise.
    And greatly, too, respected,
  Who looked, to those imperfect eyes,
    Like a swindler undetected.
  He saw a patriot address
    A noisy public meeting.
  And said: 'Why, that's a calf. I guess.
    That for the teat is bleating.'
  A doctor stood beside a bed
    And shook his summit sadly.
  'O see that foul assassin!' said
    The man who saw so badly.
  He saw a lawyer pleading for
    A thief whom they'd been jailing,
  And said: 'That's an accomplice, or
    My sight again is failing.'
  Upon the Bench a Justice sat,
    With nothing to restrain him;
  ''Tis strange,' said the observer, 'that
    They ventured to unchain him.'
  With theologic works supplied,
    He saw a solemn preacher;
  'A burglar with his kit,' he cried,
    'To rob a fellow creature.'
  A bluff old farmer next he saw
    Sell produce in a village,
  And said: 'What, what! is there no law