The Bashful Earthquake, & Other Fables and Verses

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
The contractions ’t and n’t for “it” and “not” have a space before and after them, so we see “is n’t” and “wer n’t” and “’t is” in the original text. These spaces are retained in this etext. The consistent exceptions in both the text and the etext are “don’t” “can’t” and “won’t”.
Other contractions such as “they’re” and “you’re” have a half-space in the original text; these words are closed up in the etext.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources. All misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.
If this little world to-night
Suddenly should fall thro’ space
In a hissing, headlong flight,
Shrivelling from off its face,
As it falls into the sun,
In an instant every trace
Of the little crawling things—
Ants, philosophers, and lice,