 | Uncollected Poems of James Russell Lowell |  |
WITHOUT AND WITHIN
No. II The Restaurant
That seedy chap upon the grating,
Who sniffs the odors from the kitchen,
Seems in his hungry thoughts debating
Of all he sees what's most bewitching.
Who sniffs the odors from the kitchen,
Seems in his hungry thoughts debating
Of all he sees what's most bewitching.
His eyes devour the window's treasure,
The game, the cutlet, and the salmon,—
But not the flowers, which give me pleasure,—
Japonicas to him are gammon.
The game, the cutlet, and the salmon,—
106
Japonicas to him are gammon.
I hope to smashing he's not given,—
He looks so like a hungry terrier,
For, 'twixt him and his seeming heaven,
There's but a thin and brittle barrier.
He looks so like a hungry terrier,
For, 'twixt him and his seeming heaven,
There's but a thin and brittle barrier.
He smacks his lips—in fancy tasting,
And has half brought his mind to nab it—
My game he thinks the cook is basting,
While 'tis, in fact, a poor Welsh rabbit.
And has half brought his mind to nab it—
My game he thinks the cook is basting,
While 'tis, in fact, a poor Welsh rabbit.
The longing wretch leans o'er the railing,
And thinks—“Is't I that am a sinner?
Or is it for my father's failing
That I must go without a dinner?”
And thinks—“Is't I that am a sinner?
Or is it for my father's failing
That I must go without a dinner?”
“Look at that scamp” (he means me), “sitting
Cramming enough to feed a dozen,
While I my useless teeth am gritting,
And yet his wife's my second cousin.
Cramming enough to feed a dozen,
While I my useless teeth am gritting,
And yet his wife's my second cousin.
“Now he pours down his Medoc claret,
Now what to order next he ponders;
Prudhon is right; we ought to share it—
The gold he so insanely squanders!”
Now what to order next he ponders;
Prudhon is right; we ought to share it—
The gold he so insanely squanders!”
I think.—“O! Fortune, why presentest
To all mankind gifts so irrelevant?
My teeth demand a constant dentist,
While he is ivoried like an elephant.
To all mankind gifts so irrelevant?
My teeth demand a constant dentist,
While he is ivoried like an elephant.
“Why probe us with these sharp reminders,
Why still in cornu habes foenum?
Send roasts and nuts to carious grinders,
While millstone jaws get naught between 'em?
Why still in cornu habes foenum?
Send roasts and nuts to carious grinders,
While millstone jaws get naught between 'em?
“By all the wealth I've been the winner,
I would without a moment's question,
Give him my Medoc and my dinner,
To have his molars and digestion.
I would without a moment's question,
Give him my Medoc and my dinner,
To have his molars and digestion.
107
“He fancies me a careless feeder,
While the Lord knows, he's not so weary;
I'm worried for tomorrow's leader.
And dished by that last fall in Erie.”
While the Lord knows, he's not so weary;
I'm worried for tomorrow's leader.
And dished by that last fall in Erie.”
| Uncollected Poems of James Russell Lowell | |