Page:The eighth sin (IA eighthsin00morlrich).pdf/19

"THE RHYMESTER'S SWITCH."

(A letter to P. H. Dodge, Esq., of Chicago. U.S.A.)

Dear P. H. D.,
        I dare not quote
The lines that once to you I wrote,
 Which give this little verse its name—
 For they were broad, and prudes exclaim
That broadness has no antidote!

Since we are both in the same boat,
I with my beam, you with your mote,
 Ours is the smile, and ours the shame,
  Dear P. H. D!

Still, you recall? Then we will gloat
In secret. And this favour note:
 To you this booklet gratis came,
 No others shall receive the same;
My other friends must pay their groat,
  Dear P. H. D!