"THE QUANDARY.
He is a fearful animal,
That quaint old Quandary—
A cousin of the tragical
And whimsically magical
Dilemma-bird is he.
He has an eye that's wonderful—
'Tis like a public school:
It has a thousand dutiful,
Though scarcely any beautiful,
Small pupils 'neath its rule.
And every pupil—marvelous
Indeed, sir, to relate—
When man becomes contiguous,
Makes certainty ambiguous—
Which is unfortunate.
For when this ambiguity
Has seized upon his prize,
Whate'er man tries, to do it he
Will find when he is through it, he
Had best done otherwise.
And hence it is this animal,
Of which I sing my song,
This creature reprehensible,
Is held by persons sensible
Responsible for wrong.
So if a friend or foe you see
Departing from his aim,
Be full, I pray, of charity—
He may have met the Quandary,
And so is not to blame."
"That is very pretty," said Jimmieboy, as the major finished; "but, do you know, major, I don't understand one word of it."
Much to Jimmieboy's surprise the major was pleased at this remark.
"Thank you, Jimmieboy," he said. "That proves that I am a true poet. I think there's some meaning in those lines, but it's so long since I wrote them that I have forgotten exactly what I did mean, and it's that very thing that makes a poem out of the verses. Poetry is nothing but riddles in rhyme. You have to guess what is meant by the lines, and the harder that is, the greater the poem."