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VIII.

Which is not to buy your laurel
As last king did, nothing loth.
Tale adorned and pointed moral
Gained him praise and pity both.
Out rushed sighs and groans by dozens,
Forth by scores oaths, curses flew :
Proving you were cater-cousins,
Kith and kindred, king and you!

IX.

Whereas do I ne'er so little
(Thanks to sherris) leave ajar
Bosom's gate - no jot nor tittle
Grow we nearer than we are.
Sinning, sorrowing, despairing,
Body-ruined, spirit-wrecked,-

Should I give my woes an airing,

Where's one plague that claims respect?

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Dolls which boys' heads duck and bob to,
Grown folk drop or throw away?

XII.

My experience being other,

How should I contribute verse Worthy of your king and brother?

Balaam-like I bless, not curse.

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Doubtless I am pushed and shoved by
Rogues and fools enough: the more
Good luck mine, I love, am loved by
Some few honest to the core.
Scan the near high, scout the far low!

"But the low come close:" what then? Simpletons? My match is Marlowe ; Sciolists? My mate is Ben.

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Blessings on my benefactress!

Cursings suit for aught I know—

Those who twitched her by the back tress,

Tugged and thought to turn her — so!

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XVI.

Therefore, since no leg to stand on
Thus I'm left with,—joy or grief
Be the issue, I abandon

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Hope or care you name me Chief!
Chief and king and Lord's anointed,
I?
who never once have wished
Death before the day appointed:

Lived and liked, not poohed and pished!

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SH

HOUSE.

I.

HALL I sonnet-sing you about myself?
Do I live in a house you would like to see?

Is it scant of gear, has it store of pelf?

"Unlock my heart with a sonnet-key?"

II.

Invite the world, as my betters have done?
"Take notice: this building remains on view,
Its suites of reception every one,

Its private apartment and bedroom too;

III.

"For a ticket, apply to the Publisher."
No: thanking the public, I must decline.

A peep thro' my window, if folk prefer;

But, please you, no foot over threshold of mine!

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IV.

I have mixed with a crowd and heard free talk
In a foreign land where an earthquake chanced,
And a house stood gaping, naught to balk
Man's eye wherever he gazed or glanced.

V.

The whole of the frontage shaven sheer,
The inside gaped: exposed to day,
Right and wrong and common and queer,
Bare, as the palm of your hand, it lay.

VI.

The owner? Oh, he had been crushed, no doubt! "Odd tables and chairs for a man of wealth!

What a parcel of musty old books about!

He smoked, no wonder he lost his health!

VII.

"I doubt if he bathed before he dressed.

A brasier? — the pagan, he burned perfumes! You see it is proved, what the neighbours guessed: His wife and himself had separate rooms."

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VIII.

Friends, the goodman of the house at least
Kept house to himself till an earthquake came:
'Tis the fall of its frontage permits you feast
On the inside arrangement you praise or blame.

IX.

Outside should suffice for evidence:
And whoso desires to penetrate
Deeper, must dive by the spirit-sense
No optics like yours, at any rate!

X.

Hoity toity! A street to explore,

Your house the exception! With this same key Shakespeare unlocked his heart,' once more!"

Did Shakespeare? If so, the less Shakespeare he!

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SHOP.

I.

O,

So, friend, your shop was all your house!

Its front, astonishing the street,

Invited view from man and mouse
To what diversity of treat

Behind its glass - the single sheet!

II.

What gimcracks, genuine Japanese:
Gape-jaw and goggle-eye, the frog;
Dragons, owls, monkeys, beetles, geese;
Some crush-nosed, human-hearted dog:
Queer names, too, such a catalogue!

III.

I thought "And he who owns the wealth
Which blocks the window's vastitude,
— Ah, could I peep at him by stealth
Behind his ware, pass shop, intrude
On house itself, what scenes were viewed!

IV.

If wide and showy thus the shop,

What must the habitation prove? The true house with no name a-topThe mansion, distant one remove, Once get him off his traffic groove!

V.

Pictures he likes, or books perhaps;

And as for buying most and best,
Commend me to these City chaps!
Or else he 's social, takes his rest
On Sundays, with a Lord for guest.

VI.

Some suburb-palace, parked about
And gated grandly, built last year:
The four-mile walk to keep off gout;
Or big seat sold by bankrupt peer:
But then he takes the rail, that's clear.

ΙΟ

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