Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Charles HenryLuders

1321 The Mountebanks

OVER our heads the branches made

A canopy of woven shade.

The birds about this beechen tent

Like deft attendants came and went.

A shy wood-robin, fluting low,

Furnished the music for the show.

The cricket and the grasshopper

A portion of the audience were.

Thither did Fancy leap to fling

Light summersaults around the ring.

Wit, the sly jester of the Town,

And rustic Humor played the clown;

Reason was ringmaster, and waved

His whip when these his anger braved;

Wishes were horses that each rode

Unto his heart’s desire’s abode.

There Laughter and Delight and Glee

Performed their parts that all might see,

Till a sweet wind across the clover

Whispered, “At last, the show is over,”

And the broad shadow of a cloud

Moved from us like a moving crowd.