“Yet your health is quite perfect, I wis,

And your back is unbent, and your muscles are strong,

Pray explain, sir, the meaning of this.”

“As a lad,” said the sage, with a glance that was sly,

“In my watch on myself I was strict,

I refrained when the postage-stamp courted my tongue,

And I let envelopes go unlicked.”

Funny Folks, June 6, 1885.


The Sequel to a Great Poem.