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 | The complete poetical works of Oliver Wendell Holmes |  |
[Here appears The Moral Bully, ante p. 84.]
If generous fortune give me leave to chooseMy saucy neighbors barefoot or in shoes,
I leave the hero blustering while he dares
On platforms furnished with posterior stairs,
Till prudence drives him to his “earnest” legs
With large bequest of disappointed eggs,
And take the brawler whose unstudied dress
Becomes him better, and protects him less;
Give me the bullying of the scoundrel crew,
If swaggering virtue won't insult me too!
| The complete poetical works of Oliver Wendell Holmes | |