Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/114

 IO& RICH AND POOR.

For, after all, a critic s praise

Or blame comes not so near As gentle words from loving ones,

Who hold some simple cadence dear.

For these I thank thee, busy pen,

With point to speak, and plume to bear

My greeting to these unknown friends I shall know some time here or There.

��RICH AND POOR.

SUCH a terrible, tragical, heart-breaking matter Was brought to the ears of Miss Dynevor s

&quot;pater&quot;

So dreadful to think of, so mournful to know, The worthy old merchant was crushed by the blow. For Arabelle Dynevor, scarcely eighteen, The fairest young damsel that ever was seen, Had fallen in love (such a very bad plan !) With a clerk of her father s a very poor man ; And when she was asked in a roundabout way In regard to the matter, had nothing to say, But hung out such colors, betraying distress, On cheek and on forehead, as seemed to confess Some truth in the rumor.

So father and mother In solemn conclave took counsel together With Major Villait (an old family friend) Regarding this fancy, and how it must end.

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