Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1875-12-23

Va - oh~u'fr aH1 o"SstsAtCs 4s<o1t
Twenty 1--we pounds
Again there fell cataract Of slap OF
the thr-adbare knees. aud the swee
smile for a moment quite few away
from its perch on the south corner oi
of his mouth.
i got me some clothes. / set up il
the best hotel ! went into the ch urch.
yard, got on terms with the sexton. got
the names, learned the special virtue.
of all the yeung persons recently dead
in the village, and got the names oI
siseir wealthy reiati0fs. ! wrote poems
on all these dead persons. sent thess
poems out, with a statement of INV sta
tion in life and my unhappy situation
R-sult-mark the result forty three
pounds
Another cascade of slap, and he went
on eagerly.
Il then tried again, after giving nv
ov-rworked brain a little rest. But
somehow my patrons refused to res
pond. / sought wider field for my
talent, and came boldly on to London.
l lived in a style that became the son
Of clergyman, the grandson of bish-
op, and poet who has received twen-
(, five pounds for single effort; and
my money was soon exhausted. Down,
down, down. till 1 landed above the
little erl-pie shop at four shillings.-
And now, my health is broken, INV
landlady is belligerent; yet with but
ten shilllugs nv fortune is secured
began to button up my pocket in
disgust. The poet arose and nnbntton-
ed his coat. He had no shirt collar,
and, so far as could see, no shirt
Look here! lam starving. dying,
desperate Give me but ten shillings
to get the poem printed. The lover
will give me ten-twenty-possibly fif-
tv pounds. You will have saved my
life. You will return to America. You
will will go into the graveyards there
and write poems on the dead relatives
of the wealthy. You will write all the
poems on the dead husbands Of veal
thy widows; for next to being praised
herself, a woman likes to hear the
praises of her MISUNDERSTANDING if
he is dead
protested that this was hardly a
decent way to get on.
Nonsense = cried my now wide
awake visitor. We poets are too SEN
sitive-too scrupulous. The people
like the verses, or else they would not
pay for them. They cannot write them,
but they can pay for them. They have
the money, we have the brains; and
what is the harm of singing the praises
of any one: You just give your butch
er "r iandiadv such a chance to make
money. AMI see what thy will do"
Look here said l, resolved to do a
little reform business, you'd better let
this graveyard work alone. will give
YOU some sketches to copy, aud pay YOU
n sovereign in advance. That may pull
you through till you can fad 50 something
better to do
TIE man for the moment WAS con-
Guered. The practical poet hearty shed
tears as he pock"ted the money, picked
mp his papers, aud turned away, with
n promise ,o rrtrru the work next dav
But the next day, and the next week
came and went. hu, p-ither the poet
nor the copy came to hand; and was
obliged to climb up to the little room
above the eel-pie shop in Great Wild
street.
i am a poet, and the son of a cler-
gyman, and grandson Of bishop,
and will not he insulted by such an
old woman rs you-- All, nv friend.
Come in come in! Only little dis
cussion about the great question that
now agitates this great country. This
old woman refuses to- advance IA further
supply If Goals without coin. But now
l see i,swill Le all right. b.. seated
he seated. No, no. The lover did not
respond. The hard-bearted villain =
1t was INV hest effort. That poem
should have touched heart If stone.
But 1t is all right. My friend and ben
efactor, at lsst-one of my ships has
come into port. Do you know the
Mermaid p
No, did not happen to know the
Mermaid
well, ther. the Mermaid is lively
little saloon up Oxford-st.-a sort of
beer shop that has long been celebra-
ted for its beautiful barmaids. Some
good angel led me there last night.
There saw the face of the divinest
being that was ever conceived in the
mind cf poet. took OCCASION to tell
this divine being, when she had q mo-
ment of rest from jerking on the infer
mai beer taps, that 1 was a poet; and l
read her one Of my happiest efforts.
She was delighted. She invited me to
dine. Sir, / have dined with this di-
vine being. She on one side of the
counter, l the other. She influenced
me to write her a poem. She promised
me full compensation for nv work. !
have written this poem: here it is
Shall l read it? MOI Well. some
people have no taste for tales Of love
in verse; but rs for me, they are INV life,
my soul. my body
asked for my copy.
.Ah, NV benefactor. could not read
n line Of your wonderful production
But here it is just as you gave it to
me. Next MORROW, possibly
TODAY shall return YOU your sover.
ei;n with ten.fold interest, for / am on
the verge of fortune
j limited. AZ turned to GO awav
that be might possibly be expecting tos
much.
Nothing. Sir. is more certain. A
bank could not l,e mere secure. Thi.
divine and beautiful being is to pay m,
sovereign. No, much of . sum, 20.