"These will speak in time," Responded I; "but they have not the ear Of the broad world, I think. The Christian right Of which you speak is hardly recognized Among the multitude, or by the guild In which I claim a place. The sectaries Who furnish folios, quartos, magazines, To the religious few, are limited In influence; and these, my wife, are all I have to fear;--nay, could I but arouse Their bitter enmity, I might receive Such superflux of praise and patronage As would o'erwhelm my sweetly Christian wife With shame and misery. But we shall see; And, in the meantime, let us be content That, if one man shall praise me overmuch, Ten, at the least, will fail to render me Befitting justice." As the days went on, Reviews and notices came pouring in. I was notorious, at least; and fame, I whispered comfortably to myself, Is only notoriety turned gray, With less of fire, if more of steadiness. The adverse verdicts were not numerous; And these were rendered, as I fancied then, By sanctimonious fools who deemed profane All verse outside their thumb-worn hymnodies. My book received the rattling fusilade Of all the dailies: then the artillery Of the hebdomadals, whose noisy shells, Though timed by fuse to burst on Saturday, Exploded at the middle of the week; At last, a hundred-pounder quarterly Gave it a single missive from its mask Of far and dark impersonality. The smoke cleared up, and still my colors And still my book stood proudly in the sun, Nor breached nor battered. I had won a place That I was sure of. All had said of me That I was "brilliant:" was not that enough? The petty pesterers, with card and stamp, Who hunt for autographs, were after me, In packages by post; and idle men Held me at corners by the button-hole, And introduced me to their friends. I dined With meek-eyed men, whose literary wives Were dying all to know me, as they said; And the lyceums, quick at scent and sight-- Watching the jungles for a lion--all Courted the delectation of my roar Upon their platforms, pledging to my hand (With city reference to stanchest names), Such honoraria as would have been The lion's share of profits. These were straws; But they had surer fingers for the wind Than withes or weathercocks.