A Century of Parody and Imitation

by Unknown

SINCERE FLATTERY OF W. W. (AMERICANUS).

(WHITMAN)

The clear cool note of the cuckoo which has ousted the legitimate nest-holder,

The whistle of the railway guard dispatching the train to the inevitable collision,

The maiden's monosyllabic reply to a polysyllabic proposal,

The fundamental note of the last trump, which is presumably D natural;

All of these are sounds to rejoice in, yea to let your very ribs re-echo with:

But better than all of them is the absolutely last chord of the apparently inexhaustible pianoforte player.