O Pen! When in the old-time school-house, we
Strove, 'neath our teacher's rod, to master thee,
And, twisting down upon some sad old desk,
With doleful air and attitude grotesque,
And with protruding tongue and beating heart,
Took our first lessons in the graphic art,
And that old copy on the paper poured,
Saying, "The Pen is mightier than the Sword,"
And then, from sudden and dynamic stroke,
The pen we leaned on, into fragments broke,