Alphabet of History, An

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h1>AN ALPHABET<br/>OF HISTORY</h1> <h2> <i> By Wilbur D. Nesbit</i></h2> <hr/> <p><SPAN name="ALEXANDER" id="ALEXANDER"></SPAN></p> <ins class="caption">ALEXANDER THE GREAT</ins> <div class="figright"><ANTIMG src="images/i_005.jpg" height-obs="640" width-obs="234" alt="Alexander in full armour." /></div> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Alexander the Great was a victim of fate,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And he sighed there was naught to delight him<br/></span> <span class="i0">When he brandished his sword and defiantly roared<br/></span> <span class="i2">And could not get a country to fight him.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">All the armies he'd chased, all the lands laid to waste,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And he clamored for further diversions;<br/></span> <span class="i0">And our history speaks of his grip on the Greeks<br/></span> <span class="i2">And his hammerlock hold on the Persians.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Though the Gordian knot, cut in two, in a spot<br/></span> <span class="i2">In his palace was labeled a relic,<br/></span> <span class="i0">Though Bucephalus, stuffed, gave him fame, he was &nbsp;&nbsp;huffed&mdash;<br/></span> <span class="i2">He was grouchy and grumpy, was Aleck.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">And the cause of his woe, he would have you to know,<br/></span> <span class="i2">Was the fact that he never was able<br/></span> <span class="i0">To conduct a big scrap that a versatile chap<br/></span> <span class="i2">Of a war correspondent would cable.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">'Stead of being quite glad, he would grow very sad<br/></span> <span class="i2">When he told of the fellows who'd fought him,<br/></span> <span class="i0">As he thought of the lack of the clicking kodak<br/></span> <span class="i2">In the hands of a man to "snapshot" him.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">We are told that he wept, and in dolefulness crept<br/></span> <span class="i2">Through his palace&mdash;the reason is hinted:<br/></span> <span class="i0">There were not at that time magazines for a dime,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And his articles could not be printed.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Though it may seem unkind, ere his life we've outlined,<br/></span> <span class="i2">We must say in some ways he was hateful;<br/></span> <span class="i0">And in truth, we have heard he went back on his word,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And was not Alexander the Grateful.<br/></span> <br/></div> </div> <div style="clear: both;"></div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />