["Allow for the crawl", in] Scrap-book recitation series, no 1 A Miscellaneous Collection of Prose and Poetry for Recitation and Reading, designed for schools, home and literary circles |
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 | ["Allow for the crawl", in] Scrap-book recitation series, no 1 |  |
72
“ALLOW FOR THE CRAWL.”
—A HOMILY.
You have often no doubt had occasion to note,
Though the garment, at first, seemed certain to please,
That, after some wearing, the sleeve of your coat
Toward the shoulder was crawling, by easy degrees;
And that's what the clothier, of course, had in mind
When he said to a customer, “Long?—not at all!
The sleeve is just right—as you'll presently find—
In cutting a coat we allow for the crawl!”
Though the garment, at first, seemed certain to please,
That, after some wearing, the sleeve of your coat
Toward the shoulder was crawling, by easy degrees;
And that's what the clothier, of course, had in mind
When he said to a customer, “Long?—not at all!
The sleeve is just right—as you'll presently find—
In cutting a coat we allow for the crawl!”
73
The expression was one wholly new to me then;
But it set me a thinking how well it applies,
Not merely to coats, but to women and men,
In matters of life as they daily arise:
Consider the shrinkage in human affairs—
The promise how great; the performance, how small;
And, lest disappointment should come unawares,
Remember the sleeve—and allow for the crawl!
But it set me a thinking how well it applies,
Not merely to coats, but to women and men,
In matters of life as they daily arise:
Consider the shrinkage in human affairs—
The promise how great; the performance, how small;
And, lest disappointment should come unawares,
Remember the sleeve—and allow for the crawl!
The statesman who asks for your ballot to save
Your country, so rashly imperiled to-day,
May covet an office, and not be a knave,
Whatever the fierce opposition may say,
But the platform to which he so valiantly clings,
By which he proposes to stand or to fall—
“Resolutions” remember, are slippery things—
And in politics always “allow for the crawl!”
Your country, so rashly imperiled to-day,
May covet an office, and not be a knave,
Whatever the fierce opposition may say,
But the platform to which he so valiantly clings,
By which he proposes to stand or to fall—
“Resolutions” remember, are slippery things—
And in politics always “allow for the crawl!”
You are deeply in love with the sweetest of girls;
An angel, in fine—only wanting the wings!
(If angels could purchase such beautiful curls!)
Like a seraph she smiles; like a siren she sings!
Ah! splendid and vast are the fancies of youth:
But down to plain facts they must finally fall;
And happy the couples who, finding the truth,
In conjugal kindness, “allow for the crawl!”
An angel, in fine—only wanting the wings!
(If angels could purchase such beautiful curls!)
Like a seraph she smiles; like a siren she sings!
Ah! splendid and vast are the fancies of youth:
But down to plain facts they must finally fall;
And happy the couples who, finding the truth,
In conjugal kindness, “allow for the crawl!”
In brief, recollect that in human affairs,
In social connections, in travel and trade,
In courtship and marriage, in sermons and prayers,
Some grains of concession must always be made;
In fine, be a prudent, though generous man:
Unfriendly to none, veracious to all;
Believe in your neighbor as well as you can;
But always be sure to “allow for the crawl!”
In social connections, in travel and trade,
In courtship and marriage, in sermons and prayers,
Some grains of concession must always be made;
In fine, be a prudent, though generous man:
Unfriendly to none, veracious to all;
Believe in your neighbor as well as you can;
But always be sure to “allow for the crawl!”
| ["Allow for the crawl", in] Scrap-book recitation series, no 1 | |