Take the one that came to me to-day just at dawn:

The Cable-Car turns and remarks to the Prawn,

“The Crowbar is seasick; but then what of that,

As long as the Camel won’t wear a silk hat?”

I laughed—why, I laughed till my wife had a fright

For fear I’d go wild from that joke of the night.

And they’re all much like that one—elusive enough,

Yet full of facetious, hilarious stuff—

Stuff past comprehension, stuff no man dares tell;

For nocturnal jests, e’en told ever so well—

’Tis odd it should be so—are not often bright,

Except to the dreamer who dreams them at night.

AN AUTUMNAL ROMANCE

A leaf fell in love with the soft green lawn,

A leaf

He deemed her the sweetest and best,

And then on a dreary November dawn

He withered and died on her breast.

THE COUNTRY IN JULY

Where glistening in the softness of the night

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