Classic Poem

  A. Y OU'RE merry Lovelace?
  L. I am always merry,
When I came sprawling unto this brave world,
My mother laughed, and could not feel her pains:
The midwife tittered, and the nurse did smooth
Her grave and wrinkled apron with a smile.
I grinned ere I could talk; reaped all my learning
Out of a jest-book; and, ere I was man,
Was a felon by each law of gravity.
When I do right, I laugh; 'tis self-approval:
And when I'm wrong, I laugh: it comforts me.
I laugh at folly, much; at wisdom, more:
The first by common rule, the last because
'Tis my peculiar game; and I note often,
Beneath the shadow of a grave man's frown,
A foolscap dancing,—nay, I hear the bells,
And burst abroad in monstrous merriment.
  A. You are the wiser man. If I could see
The Sun, as thou dost, through impervious clouds,
I might be happier. As it is, I bear
The grievous load of life, which poor men carry,
As loosely as I may.
  L. What ails thee now!
Come, thou hast lost a kitten in the mumps?
Thy maid has cracked her garter? Thou hast heard
Thy pig is gone astray, and 's put i' the pound?
Not so? Why then thy parsley-bed has failed?
There are no hopes of apples? The last clutch
Of chickens do not thrive as thou expect'st?
Or else, some brown-skinn'd wench, whose eyebrows meet,
Has sworn a child to another,—and 'tis thine?
  A. Peace, peace! Wilt lend me a crown?
  L. Bah! Is that all?
Why, ay: I'll do much more, for one like thee,
Whom I would fain laugh out of poverty.