Italian Canzone, which simply means having a lot of ten-syllable lines and
a few six-syllable ones. Students will remember that in our second lecture
we wrote a poem on that principle, which finished:--

Toroodle--umti--oodle--umti--knife (or strife)
Where have they put my hat?

That lecture was prepared on May 27th; my colleague's lecture was delivered
on June 5th. It is clear to me that in the interval--by what discreditable
means I know not--he obtained access to my manuscript and borrowed the
idea, thinking to cloak his guilt by specious talk about the Italian
_Canzone_. The device of offering stolen goods under a new name is an old
one, and will help him little; the jury will know what to think.

Apart from this single piece of (second-hand) instruction, what
contribution does he make to the student's knowledge of the Art of Poetry?
He makes no reference to comic poetry at all; apparently he has never
_heard_ of the Limerick, and I have the gravest doubts whether he can write
one, though that, I admit, is a severe test. I am prepared however to give
him a public opportunity of establishing his fitness for his post, and with
that end I propose to put to him the following problems, and if his answers
are satisfactory I shall most willingly modify my criticisms; but he must
write on one side of the paper only and number his pages in the top
right-hand corner.

_The Problems._

(1) What is the metre of:--

"And the other grasshopper jumped right over the other grasshopper's