Wit and Humor of America, The Vol 03

<h2>WILD ANIMALS I HAVE MET</h2> <h3>BY CAROLYN WELLS</h3> <h3><span class="smcap">The Lion</span></h3> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I've met this beast in drawing-rooms,<br/></span> <span class="i2">'Mong ladies gay with silks and plumes.<br/></span> <span class="i0">He looks quite bored, and silly, too,<br/></span> <span class="i2">When he's held up to public view.<br/></span> <span class="i0">I think I like him better when<br/></span> <span class="i2">Alone I brave him in his den.<br/></span></div> </div> <h3><span class="smcap">The Bear</span></h3> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I never seek the surly Bear,<br/></span> <span class="i2">But if I meet him in his lair<br/></span> <span class="i0">I say, "Good day, sir; sir, good day,"<br/></span> <span class="i2">And then make haste to get away.<br/></span> <span class="i0">It is no pleasure, I declare,<br/></span> <span class="i2">To meet the cross, ill-natured Bear.<br/></span></div> </div> <h3><span class="smcap">The Goose</span></h3> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">I know it would be of no use<br/></span> <span class="i2">To say I'd never met a Goose.<br/></span> <span class="i0">There are so many all around,<br/></span> <span class="i2">With idle look and clacking sound.<br/></span> <span class="i0">And sometimes it has come to pass<br/></span> <span class="i2">I've seen one in my looking-glass.<br/></span> <span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_415" id="Page_415"></SPAN></span></div> </div> <h3><span class="smcap">The Duck</span></h3> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">This merry one, with laughing eyes,<br/></span> <span class="i2">Not too sedate nor overwise,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Is best of comrades; frank and free,<br/></span> <span class="i2">A clever hand at making tea;<br/></span> <span class="i0">A fearless nature, full of pluck,<br/></span> <span class="i2">I like her well&mdash;she is a Duck.<br/></span></div> </div> <h3><span class="smcap">The Cat</span></h3> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">The Cat's a nasty little beast;<br/></span> <span class="i2">She's seen at many a f&ecirc;te and feast.<br/></span> <span class="i0">She's spiteful, sly and double-faced,<br/></span> <span class="i2">Exceeding prim, exceeding chaste.<br/></span> <span class="i0">And while a soft, sleek smile she wears,<br/></span> <span class="i2">Her neighbor's reputation tears.<br/></span></div> </div> <h3><span class="smcap">The Puppy</span></h3> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Of all the animals I've met<br/></span> <span class="i2">The Puppy is the worst one yet.<br/></span> <span class="i0">Clumsy and crude, he hasn't brains<br/></span> <span class="i2">Enough to come in when it rains.<br/></span> <span class="i0">But with insufferable conceit<br/></span> <span class="i2">He thinks that he is just too sweet.<br/></span></div> </div> <h3><span class="smcap">The Kid</span></h3> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Kids are the funniest things I know;<br/></span> <span class="i2">Nothing they do but eat and grow.<br/></span> <span class="i0">They're frolicsome, and it is said<br/></span> <span class="i2">They eat tin cans and are not dead.<br/></span> <span class="i0">I'm not astonished at that feat,<br/></span> <span class="i2">For all things else I've seen them eat.<br/></span> <span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_416" id="Page_416"></SPAN></span></div> </div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />