The Imp.

You may call him an imp,
    Or a gnome or a sprite;
And whate'er you call him
    You are sure to be right.

He is here, he is there,
    He will never stay long;
If you think he is caught,
    You are sure to be wrong.

Richard Hunter

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Richard Hunter

Algeria.

Richard Hunter, Simple Poetry

Jujuba.

Richard Hunter, Simple Poetry

Blackman the Giant.

Richard Hunter, Simple Poetry

Mollie.

Richard Hunter, Simple Poetry

English

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Mister Merryman.

He's always standing on his toes,
    And never on his heels;
He's always holding up his arms--
    I wonder how it feels.

Two balls are always in his hands,
    He never lets them drop;
He's always smiling just like this,
    And never seems to stop.

Richard Hunter

Prince Charming.

This is Prince Charming,
    Whom often you meet,
Riding or walking
    In Nursery Street.

See the red feather
    He wears in his hat,
Always you know he's
    Prince Charming by that.

Richard Hunter

Song Of Old Puck.

        "And those things do best please me,
        That befall preposterously."
        PUCK Junior, Midsummer Night's Dream.


Who wants old Puck? for here am I,
A mongrel imp, 'twixt earth and sky,
Ready alike to crawl or fly;
Now in the mud, now in the air,
And, so 'tis for mischief, reckless where.

As to my knowledge, there's no end to't,
For, where I haven't it, I pretend to't:
And, 'stead of taking a learned degree
At some dull university,
Puck found it handier to commence
With a certain share of impudence,
Which passes one off as learned and clever,
Beyond all other degrees whatever;
And enables a man of lively sconce
To be Master of all the Arts at once.
No matter what the science may be--
Ethics, Physics,...

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The Ghost, The Gallant, The Gael, And The Goblin

O'er unreclaimed suburban clays
Some years ago were hobblin'
An elderly ghost of easy ways,
And an influential goblin.
The ghost was a sombre spectral shape,
A fine old five-act fogy,
The goblin imp, a lithe young ape,
A fine low-comedy bogy.

And as they exercised their joints,
Promoting quick digestion,
They talked on several curious points,
And raised this delicate question:
"Which of us two is Number One
The ghostie, or the goblin?"
And o'er the point they raised in fun
They fairly fell a-squabblin'.

They'd barely speak, and each, in fine,
Grew more and more reflective:
Each thought his own particular line
By chalks the more effective.
At length they settled some one should
By each of them be haunted,
And so arrange...

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Smiler.

He smiles throughout the morning,
    And all the afternoon;
He smiles whene'er the sun shines,
    And also at the moon.

He smiles upon the carpet,
    Or when you pick him up;
He smiles all through his dinner,
    And when he goes to sup.

Richard Hunter

Ping-Pong.

Sing a song of Ping-pong,
    Fast away he ran:
"Come along," said Ping-pong,
    "Catch me if you can!"

Sing a song of Ping-pong,
    Racquet and a ball:
"Come along," said Ping-pong,
    "You can't run at all!"

Richard Hunter