Page:In Other Words (1912).djvu/156

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In Other Words

So say not that the trait is rare;
Us authors is a grateful crew.
Our aim is ever to be fair,
And give the angel all his due:
Brown’s grammar, Noah Webster’s tome
And Walker on Versification
All help me when I pull a pome—
My stuff is all collaboration.

“Ungrateful?” Nay! My lightest line
Is due to others more than me.
No paragraph is wholly mine;
No verse I own in simple fee.
If even the cashier himself,
Some Saturday when I endeavor
To grab my gold, refused me pelf,
I’d give up Litrachoor forever.

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