Still With Us

From the Evening Star, May 24, 1913.
 By Philander Johnson.
 

     Oh, the dear old funny story
     Still appearing in its glory—
 What a train of memories it will invite!
     It will bring fond recollections
     Of the humorous reflections
 That the lecturers would stand up and recite.
     Each comedian rehearsed it
     After-dinner speakers nursed it
 We would hear it set to music light and gay.
     Even leaders of the nation
     As a means of illustration
 In their speeches kept it going on its way.
 
     Ivy climbs upon the steeple
     And the faces of the people
 Are wrinkling and their hair is turning gray;
     And the landmarks of each city
     Slowly crumble—more’s the pity—
 Till improvements come and sweep them all away.
     But that good old comic whimsy
     Though it seemed so wan and flimsy
 Still provides a glint of fiction or of truth.
     It’s a wondrous demonstration
     Of the one thing in creation
 That rejoices in an everlasting youth.