Sitting in the dentist’s chair, Wishing that I wasn’t there, To forget and pass the time I have made this bit of rhyme. I had a rendez—vous at ten;

A barefoot boy I went to school To save a cobbler’s fee, For though the porridge pot was fu… A frugal folk were we; We baked our bannocks, spun our wo…

He wrote a letter in his mind To answer one a maid had sent; He sought the fitting word to find… As on by hill and rill he went. By bluebell wood and hawthorn lane…

Said he: "You saw the Master clea… By Rushy Pond alone he sat, Serene and silent as a seer, in tweedy coat and seedy hat. you tell me you did not intrude,

One of the Down and Out—that’s me… Stare and shrink—say! you wouldn’t… Look at my face, it’s crimped and… Don’t seem the sort of man, do I,… Slouching along in smelly rags, a…

“Carry your suitcase, Sir?” he sa… I turned away to hide a grin, For he was shorter by a head Than I and pitiably thin. I could have made a pair of him,

'Twas on an iron, icy day I saw a pirate gull down—plane, And hover in a wistful way Nigh where my chickens picked thei… An outcast gull, so grey and old,

Said Hongray de la Glaciere unto… "I want to take a wife mon Père,"… And whose, my son?” he slyly said;… Cried, “Fi! Papa, I mean —to wed… The Marquis de la Glaciere respon…

A prisoner speaks: Majority of twenty—three, I face the Judge with joy and gle… For am I not a lucky chap — No more hanging, no more cap;

Mumsie and Dad are raven dark And I am lily blonde. ‘Tis strange,’ I once heard nurse… ‘You do not correspond.’ And yet they claim me as their own…

My Pa and Ma their honeymoon Passed in an Andulasian June, And though produced in Drury Lane… I must have been conceived in Spa… Now having lapsed from fair estate…

Day after day behold me plying My pen within an office drear; The dullest dog, till homeward hie… Then lo! I reign a king of cheer. A throne have I of padded leather…

“Where is your little boy to—day?” I asked her at the gate. “I used to see him at his play, And often I would wait: He was so beautiful, so bright,

I envy not those gay galoots Who count on dying in their boots; For that, to tell the sober truth Sould be the privilege of youth; But aged bones are better sped

A pencil, sir; a penny —won’t you… I’m cold and wet and tired, a sorr… Don’t turn your back, sir; take on… I haven’t made a single sale to—ni… Oh, thank you, sir; but take the p…