The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1909-01-14
A Bard Of the Solid South.

lHlilC, Wallis W I'D IIlc UuElllllS
thoughts of Brother w. E. M.
Brogan, Of Aberdeen, Miss, a
poet whose words come automat-
ically in rhyme and rhythm. He
devotes his attention to Mr..
Taft and the South, T" and asserts
that he voices the sentiments of
his beloved Southland in all his
|utterances. Prefacing his un-
premeditated lay with a few lines
of prose prose which lifts as
lightly as verse Brother Brogan
declares that the Southland will
never surrender her heroic ideals.
iherited from a mighty past, for,
the sake of mere place and pelf.
and through the miserable lust
for gold, I" AS for Taft the man,
the South cherishes warm regard
for oursPresident-elect, hurdled
out of the West, with his dupli-
cate chin and his half-acre vest, /"
but the poet can not share in the
belief that Mr.. Taft's overtures
will be accepted. "Shall we muir
der principle for lust of gold?"
he asks; and it is a question to be
answered. Let the Republican
paaty look to it. "Shall we
trample underfoot political teach
ing of a century past, and feast
upon the leeks and garlic of
Egypt?' Another question of
great pith and moment. Broth
er Brogan goes a little further in
his efforts to discuss in prose the
busting of the solid South; but
Pegasus paws impatiently, and
would fly. And the sweet singer
hastily mounting, throws back in
thrilling echoes these stanzas:
When bedbugs in hotels are rare,
And tadpoes can swallow live whales;
When sailors forget how to swear,
And rabbits are outrun by dead snals.
When billy goats butt from the rear,
And croeodiles float in the air;
When Dutohmen won't drink larger beer,
And tarrepins grow curley hair.
When chicken feathers grow upon hogs,
And hickory trees thrive without bark;
When Thomas cats travel like frogs,
AMI fleas can be caught in the dark.
When ward heelers quit telling lies,
And women cease loving fine show;
When Yankees won't eat pumpkin pies,
And girls won't smile at their beau.
When mocking-birds bray like the ass,
And the bullfrog sings like the lark;
When battleships are made of thin glass,
And society," welcomes the ''stork.'
When the 'possum grows hair on his tail,
And the polecat smells like cologne,
When Jonah again swallows the whale,
And the heart of all Dixians are stone
When our Presdent-eleet, hurdled out of
the West,
With his duplicate chin and his half-acre
of vest,
Will attain the great end of his presiden-
tial quest;
But let all SouthernerS pray
That e'er the dawn of that day
Tbpy,u min ole their honac with fha duct
and the clay,
And their spirits to dwell with the blest.
Say not so, blithe bard of Aber-
deem! Soothly, say not so! If
you love the new President, and
he loves you, is it not possible to
arrange an armisties? What say
you to an appointment as poet
laureate of the new administra-
ton? Ha! 1t appeals to you?
Nothing is easier; nothing is more
inevitable. Let the bard Of Aber-
deem run over to Augusta and
there, under the Southern moon,
MARBLE his lays of love and Ian
guor. There will be something
doing politically of mutual bene-
fit to Mr.. Taft and the solid South.
President-elect Taft can not af-
ford to conduct an administration
in the face Of the opposition Of
the bard of Aberdeen. The bard
can not afford to remain longer
in obscurity. Let them get to-
gether, for the sake Of the gen
eral welfare. Then there will
be no South and no North, but
one devoted brotherhood. And
in that halcyon time the mock
ing bird shall bray like the ass,
and the bullfrog sing like a lark.