A mirth-destroying guest,
I would not play the cynic's part,
Nor at thy pleasure sneer—
I wish thee, Reader, from my heart,
A happy, glad New year.
ECHO VERSES.
Some years ago I chanced upon a magazine article containing a dissertation upon a now almost obsolete kind of versification, much affected by Ben Jonson and some of the last century poets, in which the first two or three lines of each verse ask a question, and the echo of the concluding words gives an answer more or less appropriate. An amusing example was given in the article above mentioned, which was equally rough on the great violinist of the past and his audience, thus:
"What are they who pay six guineas
To hear a string of Paganini's?"
(Echo) "Pack 'o ninnies!"