“What did the dark-haired Iberian laugh at before the tall blonde Aryan drove him into the corners of Europe?”—_Brander Matthews_. I AM an ancient Jest! Palæolithic man In his arboreal nest The sparks of fun would fan; My outline did he plan, And laughed like one possessed, ’Twas thus my course began, I am a Merry Jest! I am an early Jest! Man delved, and built, and span; Then wandered South and West The peoples Aryan, _I_ journeyed in their van; The Semites, too, confessed,— From Beersheba to Dan,— I am a Merry Jest! I am an ancient Jest, Through all the human clan, Red, black, white, free, oppressed, Hilarious I ran! I’m found in Lucian, In Poggio, and the rest, I’m dear to Moll and Nan! I am a Merry Jest! ENVOY. Prince, you may storm and ban— Joe Millers _are_ a pest, Suppress me if you can! I am a Merry Jest! CAMEOS. _SONNETS FROM THE ANTIQUE_. These versions from classical passages are pretty close to the original, except where compression was needed, as in the sonnets from Pausanias and Apuleius, or where, as in the case of fragments of Æschylus and Sophocles, a little expansion was required. CAMEOS. _THE graver by Apollo’s shrine_, _Before the Gods had fled_, _would stand_, _A shell or onyx in his hand_, _To copy there the face divine_, _Till earnest touches_, _line by line_, _Had wrought the wonder of the land_ _Within a beryl’s golden band_, _Or on some fiery opal fine_. _Ah_! _would that as some ancient ring_ _To us_, _on shell or stone_, _doth bring_, _Art’s marvels perished long ago_, _So I_, _within the sonnet’s space_, _The large Hellenic lines might trace_, _The statue in the cameo_! HELEN ON THE WALLS. (_Iliad_, iii. 146.) FAIR Helen to the Scæan portals came, Where sat the elders, peers of Priamus, Thymoetas, Hiketaon, Panthöus, And many another of a noble name, Famed warriors, now in council more of fame. Always above the gates, in converse thus They chattered like cicalas garrulous; Who marking Helen, swore “it is no shame That armed Achæan knights, and Ilian men For such a woman’s sake should suffer long. Fair as a deathless goddess seemeth she. Nay, but aboard the red-prowed ships again Home let her pass in peace, not working wrong To us, and children’s children yet to be.” THE ISLES OF THE BLESSED. _Pindar_, _Fr._, 106, 107 (95): B. 4, 129–130, 109 (97): B. 4, 132.