Womanly Qualms

When I go rowing on the lake,
I long to be a man;
Ill give my Sunday frock to have
A callous heart like Dan.

I love the ripple of the waves
When gliding oer the deep,
But when I see the cruel ours,
I close my eyes and weep;

For there are cat-fish in our lake,
And I am filled with dread,
Lest Don should strike a pussy-fish
Upon its tender head.

How would you like it if, some day
An air-ship passing by,
Should flap its cruel, thoughtless oars
And knock you in the eye?

My life would be one long regret
If, for my pleasure vain,
I caused a harmless little fish
An hour of needless pain.

And if Dans heavy oars should cause
One little fish to die,
Id never, never dare to look
Smoked herring in the eye!

Ellis Parker Butler

Ellis Parker Butler was an American author, humorist, and poet, best known for his short story 'Pigs Is Pigs.' Born on December 5, 1869, in Muscatine, Iowa, Butler became a prolific writer, contributing to numerous magazines and books over his career. He is remembered for his wit and humor, which marked his work. Butler passed away on September 13, 1937.

Ellis Parker Butler

A Question

Ellis Parker Butler, Simple Poetry

Speaking Of Operations

Ellis Parker Butler, Simple Poetry

Circumstantial Evidence

Ellis Parker Butler, Simple Poetry

Golden Silence

Ellis Parker Butler, Simple Poetry

English

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Farmer Stebbins At Ocean Grove.

OCEAN GROVE, June 30, 18 - .

DEAR COUSIN JOHN:

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The Tearful Tale Of Captain Dan

A sinner was old Captain Dan;
His wives guv him no rest:
He had one wife to East Skiddaw
And one to Skiddaw West.

Now Ann Eliza was the name
Of her at East Skiddaw;
She was the most cantankerous
Female you ever saw.

I dont know but one crosser-grained,
And of this Captain Dan
She was the wife at Skiddaw West,
She was Eliza Ann.

Well, this old skeesicks, Captain Dan,
He owned a ferryboat;
From East Skiddaw to Skiddaw West
That vessel used to float.

She was as trim a ferry-craft
As ever I did see,
And on each end a pinted bow
And pilothouse had she.

She had two bows that way, so when
She went acrost the sound
She could, to oncet, run back agin
Without a-turnin round.

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Ellis Parker Butler

The Fisherman.

The waters rush'd, the waters rose,

A fisherman sat by,
While on his line in calm repose

He cast his patient eye.
And as he sat, and hearken'd there,

The flood was cleft in twain,
And, lo! a dripping mermaid fair

Sprang from the troubled main.

She sang to him, and spake the while:

"Why lurest thou my brood,
With human wit and human guile

From out their native flood?
Oh, couldst thou know how gladly dart

The fish across the sea,
Thou wouldst descend, e'en as thou art,

And truly happy be!

"Do not the sun and moon with grace

Their forms in ocean lave?
Shines not with twofold charms their face,

When rising from the wave?
The deep, deep heavens, then lure thee not,

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe