Where the sombre azimuths are booming, Flecked with argent elemental foam, And the stately colocynths are blooming In a salicylic monochrome; There, transported on pellucid pinions, Sick of common sense I seek repose, Far from the disconsolate dominions Tainted by the tyranny of prose. O'er the whole translunar gamut ranging. There my astral body slides and skims, Choriambic melodies exchanging With the apolaustic cherubims; Weaving in a polyphonic pattern Harmonies that mock at clefs and bars; Toying with the shining rings of Saturn, Throwing star-dust in the eyes of Mars. There, suspended in a sumptuous limbo, Like a happier version of the boy Drawn by Mr. BLACKWOOD in his _Jimbo_, I shall taste of bliss without alloy; Other minstrels may indulge in fighting, I myself cannot so far forget As to shun the raptures of inditing Occ. verse for the _Bestspinster Gazette_. * * * * * For our "Glimpses of the Obvious": "An interesting feature in the prone trees was that they all fell in one direction, showing the direction from which the blast came." _Morning Paper._ * * * * * "So soft and loose was the earth that the trench walls had to be rivetted." _Daily Sketch._ A very curious treatment. Personally we always use a safety-pin. * * * * * "Inquiries are being received at Lloyds for insurance to pay total loss in case of peace being declared during the present war." _Montreal Gazette._ We ourselves should take our chance of this contingency. * * * * * "The total import value of matches is less than £1,000,000 per annum, and if £2,000,000 is to be collected, it will make matches 6d. or even more per dozen."--_Daily Chronicle._ Mr. MCKENNA surely cannot have realized this. * * * * * MR. PUNCH'S POTTED FILMS. THE SENTIMENTAL DRAMA. [Illustration: REGINALD CARSTAIRS, READING DURING THE VACATION AT A REMOTE COUNTRY VILLAGE, FALLS IN LOVE WITH THE LANDLADY'S FAIR DAUGHTER, ROSIE. IN THE OLD ORCHARD SHE WOULD SING TO HIM "PANSY FACES."] [Illustration: REGINALD'S HAUGHTY FATHER WILL NOT HEAR OF HIS UNION WITH THE RUSTIC GIRL, AND MARRIES HIM TO A WEALTHY HEIRESS. HE CONTINUALLY ANNOYS HER BY PICKING OUT ON THE PIANO THE MUSIC OF AN OLD SONG. AND SO THEY REACH A LOVELESS MIDDLE-AGE.] [Illustration: IN THE MEANTIME ROSIE HAS HAD HER VOICE CULTIVATED, AND, UNDER THE NAME OF "LA BELLE ROSSIGNOLETTE," HAS TAKEN THE CONTINENT BY STORM. IN THE MIDST OF HER GREATEST TRIUMPHS, HOWEVER, SHE IS OFTEN _DISTRAITE_.]