That I may sin again, but rarely more,
Responsive only unto royal toasts.

For, save these sins, I am a saintly man,
And live like other saints on prayer and praise,
My long face longer, if life be a span,
Than any two lives in these saintly days.

So let me smoke and drink and do good deeds,
And boast the doing like a Pharisee;
Am I not holy if I love the creeds,
Even though my drinking sins choke up the sea?

GEORGE S. PHILLIPS (JANUARY SEARLE): _The Gypsies of the Dane's Dike._




INVOCATION TO TOBACCO.


Weed of the strange flower, weed of the earth,
Killer of dulness, parent of mirth,
Come in the sad hour, come in the gay,
Appear in the night, or in the day,--
Still thou art welcome as June's blooming rose,
Joy of the palate, delight of the nose.

Weed of the green field, weed of the wild,
Fostered in freedom, America's child,