If, before he spends a million, he will think a bit and pause,
There's a popular impression he's a wad.

If a man attends to business and looks to every chance,
He is mercenary, money-mad, and coarse;
If he thinks of art and letters more than personal finance,
He is lacking in ambition and in force.

If a man but bats his consort oh-so-gently on the head,
If he throttles her a little round the neck,
He's a brute; if he's considerately conjugal instead,
Everybody calls him Mr. Henry Peck.

Lowers Scylla--frowns Charybdis--and the bark is like to sink--
This the symbolistic moral of my rhyme--
If Opinion trims your sails and if you care what people think
You will have a most unhappy sort of time.



An Election Night Pantoum


Gaze at the good-natured crowd,
List to the noise and the rattle!
Heavens! that woman is loud--
Loud as the din of a battle.

List to the noise and the rattle!
Hark to the honk of the horn