Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: INGREDIENTS OF GREATNESS The style of man I'd like to be, If I could have my way, Would be a sort of pot-pourri Of Poe and Thackeray ; Of Horace, Edison, and Lamb; Of Keats and Washington, Ge'rome and blest Omar Khayya'm, And R. L. Stevenson; Of Kipling and the Bard of Thrums, And Bonaparte the great— If I were these, I'd snap my thumbs Derisively at Fate. A COMMON FA VORITE Charles Lamb is good, and so is Thackeray, And so's Jane Austen in her pretty way; Charles Dickens, too, has pleased me quite a lot, As also have both Stevenson and Scott. I like Dumas and Balzac, and I think Lord Byron quite a dab at spreading ink; But on the whole, at home, across the sea, The author I like best is Mr. Me. A "first" of Elia filled my soul with A Meredith de luxe held no alloy. A COMMON FAVORITE And when I found Pendennis in the parts A throb of gladness stirred my heart of hearts. A richly pictured set of Avon's bard Upon my liking bounded pretty hard; But none brought out that cloying sense of glee That came from that first book by Mr. Me. And so I beg you join me in the toast To him that I confess I love the most. He does not always do his level best, But no one lives who can survive that test. His work is queer, and some folks call it bad, And some aver 'tis but a passing fad; But I don't care, the fact remains that he Has won my admiration—dear old THEIR PENS The poet pens his odes and sonnets spruce With quills plucked from the ordinary goose, While critics write their sharp incisive lines With quills snatched from the fretful porcupines. AN UNSOLVED PROBLEM If Bacon wrote those grand inspiring lines At which alternately man weeps and laughs, Who was it penned thos...