 | [Poems by Stoddard in] James Lorimer Graham, Jr. January 17th. 1894 |  |
8
[“Every book must have a name]
“Every book must have a name,
Meaning much or meaning little;
This of course must have the same:
Let me see,—
What shall it be?
I have hit it, to a tittle:
(Fellow authors be not jealous,)
'T is ‘Ye Booke of ye Goode Fellowes.’
Not a man shall figure here,
(Soon you'll see a score appear,)
Be his talent what it will,
With the pencil, or the quill,
Old or young, or crude or mellow,
An he be not a good fellow!
Meaning much or meaning little;
This of course must have the same:
Let me see,—
What shall it be?
I have hit it, to a tittle:
(Fellow authors be not jealous,)
'T is ‘Ye Booke of ye Goode Fellowes.’
9
(Soon you'll see a score appear,)
Be his talent what it will,
With the pencil, or the quill,
Old or young, or crude or mellow,
An he be not a good fellow!
Turn the leaves, and you will see
Such a goodly company:—
Poets, with their careless lines,
(Made beforehand every one!)
Artists, with their quaint designs,
Future pictures here begun;
Critics, (spare me, dreadful men!)—
Masters of the Brush and Pen.
Some are famous now, and some
Will be in the years to come;
(Poets can the future tell us,)
And all—the very best good fellows.”
Such a goodly company:—
Poets, with their careless lines,
(Made beforehand every one!)
Artists, with their quaint designs,
Future pictures here begun;
Critics, (spare me, dreadful men!)—
Masters of the Brush and Pen.
Some are famous now, and some
Will be in the years to come;
(Poets can the future tell us,)
And all—the very best good fellows.”
| [Poems by Stoddard in] James Lorimer Graham, Jr. January 17th. 1894 | |