Genius.

There was once a young man quite erratic
    Who lived all alone in an attic,
He wrote magazine verse
    That made editors curse,
But his friends thought it fine and dramatic.

Edwin C. Ranck

Edwin C. Ranck was an American lyricist noted for his work in the early 20th century. He was a prolific writer and his lyrics were often characterized by their humor and wit. One of his standout works is the poem 'The Optimist', which reflects his positive outlook on life. Beyond that, little is known about his personal life or career. He remains a somewhat obscure figure in literary history.

Edwin C. Ranck

At The Telephone.

Edwin C. Ranck, Simple Poetry

O'Dowd Of The Jefferson Club.

Edwin C. Ranck, Simple Poetry

Alas.

Edwin C. Ranck, Simple Poetry

The Medicine Man.

Edwin C. Ranck, Simple Poetry

English

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To Poe.

You lived in a land horror-haunted,
    And wrote with a pen half-divine;
You drank bitter sorrow, undaunted
    And cast precious pearls before swine.

Edwin C. Ranck

Oh Scissors!

I knew a young man so conceited
    That a glance at his face made you heated.
One night, playing whist,
    He was slapped on the wrist,
Because some one said that he cheated.

Edwin C. Ranck

The Reading Man.

With patient toil, from day to day,
The printed page he scann'd,
The page of learned book, or sheet
With news from foreign land.

And people thought him wond'rous wise,
And he himself was vain
Of all the knowledge he had stor'd
Within his jaded brain.

What other men were working at,
He knew from day to day,
But never dream'd his barren task
Was only idle play.

Fill'd with the thoughts of other minds,
His words were barren, dry;
He seldom coin'd a thought himself,
He had so many by.

And when he found himself alone,
Where self could only think,
He found the store within his brain,
A weight to make him sink.

What he had always thought were ends,
He saw were only means,
And, for his urgent purpose now,

Thomas Frederick Young

Nocturne.

A cat duet.
    A silhouette.
A high brick wall,
    An awful squall.
A moonlit night,
    A mortal fight.
A man in bed,
    Sticks out his head.
Gee Whiz!
    The man has riz.
His arm draws back
    A big bootjack--
A loud swish,
    Squish!
"What's that?"
    A dead cat.

Edwin C. Ranck

Now There's A Coon In The Moon.

There was once an eccentric old coon,
    Who ate dynamite with a spoon,
But when he got loaded
    The powder exploded--
And now there's a coon in the moon.

Edwin C. Ranck

Two Friends

One day Ambition, in his endless round,
All filled with vague and nameless longings, found
Slow wasting Genius, who from spot to spot
Went idly grazing, through the Realms of Thought.

Ambition cried, 'Come, wander forth with me;
I like thy face -but cannot stay with thee.'
'I will,' said Genius, 'for I needs must own
I'm getting dull by being much alone.'

'Your hands are cold -come, warm them at my fire,'
Ambition said.    'Now, what is thy desire?'
Quoth Genius, ''Neath the sod of yonder heather
Lie gems untold.    Let's plough them out together.'

They bent like strong young oxen to the plough,
This done, Ambition questioned, 'Whither now?
We'll leave these gems for all the world to see!
New sports and pleasures wait for thee and me.'

...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox