Gives it a wipe—and all is gone."

And this (says Mr. Punch) is the Minor Poet's reply to-day:—

I write not on a slate, but foolscap fair:

It falls to the Waste-paper Basket's care.

If not, the Minor Poet's still ill-fated,

'Tis by some Minor Critic now he's "slated."

Far better than that stabber's spiteful lunge,

Were "a clean slate" and kind oblivion's "sponge."