ion>O. Henry
The Complete Poems of O. Henry
Including a Biography of the Author
Published by
Books
- Advanced Digital Solutions & High-Quality eBook Formatting -
2017 OK Publishing
ISBN 978-80-272-3543-8
Table of Contents
A Contribution
There came unto ye editor
A poet, pale and wan,
And at the table sate him down,
A roll within his hand.
Ye editor accepted it,
And thanked his lucky fates;
Ye poet had to yield it up
To a king full on eights.
Chanson De Bohême
Lives of great men all remind us
Rose is red and violet’s blue;
Johnny’s got his gun behind us
‘Cause the lamb loved Mary too.
— Robert Burns’ “Hocht Time in the aud Town.”
I’d rather write this, as bad as it is
Than be Will Shakespeare’s shade;
I’d rather be known as an F. F. V.
Than in Mount Vernon laid.
I’d rather count ties from Denver to Troy
Than to head Booth’s old programme;
I’d rather be special for the New York World
Than to lie with Abraham.
For there’s stuff in the can, there’s Dolly and Fan,
And a hundred things to choose;
There’s a kiss in the ring, and every old thing
That a real live man can use.
I’d rather fight flies in a boarding house
Than fill Napoleon’s grave,
And snuggle up warm in my three slat bed
Than be André the brave.
I’d rather distribute a coat of red
On the town with a wad of dough
Just now, than to have my cognomen
Spelled “Michael Angelo.”
For a small live man, if he’s prompt on hand
When the good things pass around,
While the world’s on tap has a better snap
Than a big man under ground.
Drop A Tear In This Slot
He who, when torrid Summer’s sickly glare
Beat down upon the city’s
