POEMS OLD AND NEW

But soon a wonder came to light.
That show'd the rogues they lied :

The man recover'd of the bite,
The dog it was that died.

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

FRED

(Quoted in The Four Georges by JUSTIN MCCARTHY)

HERE lies Fred,

Who was alive and is dead.

Had it been his father,

I had much rather ;

Had it been his brother,

Still better than another ; 10

Had it been his sister,

No one would have missed her ;

Had it been the whole generation,

Still better for the nation.

But since it is only Fred,

Who was alive and is dead,

There's no more to be said.

ANONYMOUS

THE COLUBRIAD
CLOSE by the threshold of a door nail'd fast
- Three kittens sat : each kitten look'd aghast.
I, passing swift and inattentive by, 20
At the three kittens cast a careless eye ;
Not much concern'd to know what they did there,
Not deeming kittens worth a poet's care.
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