De la tenure la fixité c'est l'astre de vos rêves,
Que Rory des Collines vit et que les landgrabbers crèvent
Moi, je suis vieux, mais dans l'ombre je vois clair,
Bientôt serez-vous maîtres de vos bonnes pommes de terre.
C'est le brave Biggar, le T.P. O'Connor et les autres
Qui sont vos sauveurs, comme Gambetta était le nôtre;
Suivez-les, et la victoire sera toujours à vous,
Si à Milbank ce cher Forster ne vous envoie pas. Hooroo!
By the time that these lines were written the late Mr. J.K. Stephen—affectionately known by his friends as "Jem Stephen"—was beginning to be recognized as an extraordinarily good writer of humorous verse. His performances in this line were not collected till ten years later (Lapsus Calami, 1891), and his brilliant career was cut short, by the results of an accident, in 1892. I reproduce the following sonnet, not only because I think it an excellent criticism aptly expressed, but because I desire to pay my tribute of admiration to one of whom all men spoke golden words:—
"Two voices are there: one is of the deep—