The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1917-07-30
Don Marquis
Column
Interviews In Rhyme.

(And then. you know. they're whis-
pering now that he Is cpl
leptic)-
Caesar" I said to him, as ] pulled
out a pad of paper,
you've seen, no doubt, what Cassius
says about your latest caper?"
C. Julius smiled and coughed into his
purple-hemmed bandanna;
He gave your representative q very
- hne Havana.
He clicked his sandals on the tiles,
he trified with his vesture-
We interviewers never miss the
smallest little gesture:
In building up the characters, Of
statesmen or OF wretches,
II is these telling little strokes that
vitalize our sketches
Just try this cordial" Caesar said.
ats made from Tuscan peaches
You have not seen what cassius
says?"
~ never read his speeches."
THE Morning Censor says he said
you're said to be 'Ambitious.' d"
c. Julius smiled the Caesar smile
his manner was delicious.-
OF all the men I've interviewed, from
criminals to sages,
I've never seen another smile SO witty
and contagious;
A far-off look was in his eye. his foot
was on a pillah,
And he looked out the window of his
costly succeed villa,
As II he sought among the hills for
SMILES and phrases
Wherewith to cloak his naked
thought: Let cassius go to
blazes!
And though he did not cease to smile,
and though he still seemed
placid. ..
The smile assumed its second phase
and tinged itself with acid
Let old Crook cassius watch his
stepw
He Kissed when he said cassius.
Then suddenly upon his desk, with
flve tremendous crashes,
He volleyed with the Julian fists, his
Ndul1ucQ-
Let old Crook Cassius watch his
step! I'm gonna have him
banished"-
The butler rushed into the room. alert,
and keen to buttle;
But Caesar waved the slave aside;
once more his look grew
subtle;-
U've interviewed a thousand men, OF
all sorts and conditions,
And never saw before such quick
emotional transitions:
The thought came to me forcibly, and
naught has yet removed It:
This man Is all sincerity" told
him. He approved IT.
He peeled q peach, then licked his
hands and laved 'em in an ever
And bent a kindlier regard upon his
interviewer:
IT used to Ike this Cassius gink who
says am ambitious,
Or otherwise I'd feed him to the
speckIed Tiber fishes;
But I'm too easy with old friends;
the fault Is tempsramental:
I ought to have his head cut on! I
know / am too gentle.
Twas only yesterday the plebes, for
such their pretty way Is.
Got peeved and passed the word
around to call me Easy Cas-
sius.'
I ought to have his blood for this!
My hearts too big No matter!
But Sylla would have had his head
upon a silver platter!
Just state, young man, when you go
in and write your little story,
That Caesars thoughts are bent on
kindness, not on gore and
glory.
lust state that Caesars only aims to
give this Roman nation
A wise and merciful and just and kind
administration"
The Caesar smile returned again. One
can't escape the notion
That Caius Julius Caesars full of gen.
erous emotion.
He plucks his stylus out and taps on
cuspid or incisor
In such a way one understands man
couldn't well be wiser;
He is an unassuming man-so many
imperators,
Whom l have interviewed. have been
mere Founders, cads and rot
tiers;
His Home Life is ideal, too. He sell
dom picks his spouses
Too casually, and cans FER II the
ladies turn to souses.
He has a playful way at home-I
heard him josh the Missus:
Caesars wife The said, and winked)
should not be too suspicious"
I've interviewed a. thousand men,
from champs to selling platers,
I've been consulted right and left. by
kings and gladiator
Your Clceros will call me in, your
Antonys and Catos.
To get advice on everything from
poems to potatoes
And never have ! seen a man, in all
my observation,
Whose two-yolked head appeared to
have such thoughts in incuba-
ton
Before I left j. Caesar said: Don't
fake me, lad! Don't try II!
And II you're interviews not right,
remember, I'll deny it,"