Let us then beware high feeding, Or the love of luscious cate, Still abstaining, ne'er exceeding, Learn to dodge dyspeptic fate! From _Punch_, December 27, 1879. * * * * * Lives of wealthy men remind us That by using Printer's ink, We can die and leave behind us Monstrous piles of golden "chink." * * * * * TO MY SCOUT AT BREAKFAST. Don't tell me in cheerful numbers That the jug is full of cream! For the milkman's conscience slumbers, And things are not what they seem! _Odd Echoes from Oxford_, 1872. * * * * * A FRAGMENT. Wives of great men all remind us We may make our wives sublime By departing--leave behind us Widows in the "weeds" of time. Widows that perchance some other Sailing o'er life's solemn main Some forlorn rejected brother, May take heart, and "splice" again. * * * * * BEWARE! (_From the German._) I know a maiden fair to see, Take care! She can both false and friendly be, Beware! beware! Trust her not. She is fooling thee! She has two eyes, so soft and brown, Take care! She gives a side glance and looks down, Beware! beware! Trust her not, She is fooling thee! LONGFELLOW. "TAKE CARE." Have you a wife with real estate? Take care! She can "devise, and alienate," Beware! Beware! She has got The whip hand of thee! Too promptly she may take her cue, Beware! And learn she has the "power to sue," Take care! Take care! Thwart her not, She'll be down on thee! Her three per cents are but a snare, Take care! She "holds" as if _femme sole_ she were, Beware! Beware! Has she not The whip hand of thee? You, Darby, who could sponge on Joan, Take care! Henceforth her earrings are her own, Beware! Beware! Touch them not, She'll be down on thee! If this new law be put in force, Take care! Lest th' old mare prove the better horse, Beware! Beware! Marry not, There's a hint for thee! From _The Tomahawk_. * * * * * BEWARE! I know a rink that's fair to see, Take care! It can both kind and cruel be, Beware! Beware! Trust it not, It will injure thee! It has two skates to lend to you, Take care! With wheels that oft want oiling too, Beware! Beware! Trust it not, It will injure thee!