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,
Cattle, cockroaches, and kings,
Beggars, millionaires, and mice,
Men and maggots all as one
As it falls into the sun—
Who can say but at the same
Instant from some planet far
A child may watch us and exclaim:
“See the pretty shooting star!”
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,
Cattle, cockroaches, and kings,
Beggars, millionaires, and mice,
Men and maggots all as one
As it falls into the sun—
Who can say but at the same
Instant from some planet far
A child may watch us and exclaim:
“See the pretty shooting star!”
The Bashful
Earthquake
& Other FABLES
and VERSES by
OLIVER HERFORD
with many pictures
by the Author
New York: Published by Charles Scribner’s Sons in the Autumn of MDCCCXCVIII
Copyright, 1898,
By Oliver Herford.
University Press:
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A.
TO THE ILLUSTRATOR
IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS AMIABLE CONDESCENSION IN LENDING HIS EXQUISITELY DELICATE ART TO THE EMBELLISHMENT OF THESE POOR VERSES FROM HIS SINCEREST ADMIRER
THE AUTHOR
CONTENTS.
| Page | |
| The Bashful Earthquake | [1] |
| The Lovesick Scarecrow | [7] |
| The Music of the Future | [9] |
| Song | [11] |
| The Doorless Wolf | [12] |
| The Bold Bad Butterfly | [15] |
| Crumbs | [20] |
| Japanesque | [21] |
| The Difference | [22] |
| Why ye Blossome Cometh before ye Leafe | [23] |
| The First First of April | [24] |
| The Epigrammatist | [26] |
| The Silver Lining | [28] |
| The Boastful Butterfly | [31] |
| The Three Wishes | [35] |
| Truth | [37] |
| The Tragic Mice | [38] |
| Absence of Mind | [40] |
| The Graduate | [41] |
| The Poet’s Proposal | [44] |
| A Three-sided Question | [45] |
| The Snail’s Dream | [51] |
| A Christmas Legend | [52] |
| Hyde and Seeke | [54] |
| In the Café | [55] |
| The Legend of the Lily | [58] |
| The Untutored Giraffe | [60] |
| The Enchanted Wood | [64] |
| A Bunny Romance | [68] |
| The Flower Circus | [72] |
| The Fatuous Flower | [77] |
| A Love Story | [80] |
| Ye Knyghte-Mare | [83] |
| Metaphysics | [84] |
| The Princess that was n’t | [86] |
| The Lion’s Tour | [89] |
| The Fugitive Thought | [93] |
| The Cussed Damozel | [97] |
| A Gas-log Reverie | [101] |
| Cupid’s Fault | [103] |
| All Aboard | [104] |
| Killing Time | [105] |
| The Mermaid Club | [107] |
| A Song | [109] |
| Angel’s Toys | [110] |
| The Reformed Tigress | [112] |
| Two Ladies | [115] |
| To the Wolf at the Door | [119] |
| The Fall of J. W. Beane | [121] |
THE BASHFUL EARTHQUAKE
Crime, Wickedness, Villany, Vice,
And Sin only misery bring;
If you want to be Happy and Nice,
Be good and all that sort of thing.