Dreams, books, are each a world; and books, we know,
Are a substantial world, both pure and good.
Wordsworth
FATHER WILLIAM
"Repeat 'You are old, Father William,'" said the Caterpillar.
Alice folded her hands, and began:—
"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head—
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."
"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door—
Pray, what is the reason of that?"