Merry Drollery Compleat (1875)/Prelude
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Prelude
To the Reprint of
“Merry Drollery, Complete.”
“Merry and Wise’ the proverb bade us be:
“Wise,” ruled the Saintly, “but by no means Merry!”
And straightway sought all joy to kill and bury.
Marvel not, then, if Cavaliers we see
(By ample proof within this Drollerie,)
Chose Mirth alone, quaffing too much of Sherry.
“Wise,” ruled the Saintly, “but by no means Merry!”
And straightway sought all joy to kill and bury.
Marvel not, then, if Cavaliers we see
(By ample proof within this Drollerie,)
Chose Mirth alone, quaffing too much of Sherry.
Merry and Wise! Welcome be smiles of youth,
On lips not yet in anguish blenched or bitten;
Be sportive gambols of each lamb and kitten!
He who would banish Mirth is scant of ruth:
Why should grim visages repel from Truth?
Soon shall the joyous heart be cold, or smitten.
On lips not yet in anguish blenched or bitten;
Be sportive gambols of each lamb and kitten!
He who would banish Mirth is scant of ruth:
Why should grim visages repel from Truth?
Soon shall the joyous heart be cold, or smitten.
Merry and Wise! True text for books like ours,
Which tell of troubled times, and men half frantic,
Drunk with a short-lived glee, playing their antic.
Seek for more innocent mirth, and fragrant bowers
That show no reptile-slime upon the flowers:
Shun Mirth that stains, and Wisdom grown pedantic.
Which tell of troubled times, and men half frantic,
Drunk with a short-lived glee, playing their antic.
Seek for more innocent mirth, and fragrant bowers
That show no reptile-slime upon the flowers:
Shun Mirth that stains, and Wisdom grown pedantic.
J. W. E.
May, 1875
May, 1875