Page:Captain Craig; a book of poems.djvu/25

Rh I question if in tremors or in tears There be more guidance to man's worthiness Than—well, say in his prayers. But oftentimes It humors us to think that we possess By some divine adjustment of our own Particular shrewd cells, or something else, What others, for untutored sympathy, Go spirit-fishing more than half their lives To catch—like cheerful sinners to catch faith; And I have not a doubt but I assumed Some egotistic attribute like this When, cautiously, next morning I reduced The fretful qualms of my novitiate, For most part, to an undigested pride. Only, I live convinced that I regret This enterprise no more than I regret My life; and I am glad that I was born.

That evening, at "The Chrysalis," I found The faces of my comrades all suffused With what I chose then to denominate Superfluous good feeling. In return, They loaded me with titles of odd form And unexemplified significance, Like "Bellows-mender to Prince Æolus," "Pipe-filler to the Hoboscholiast," "Bread-fruit for the Non-Doing," with one more