In Memoriam—J. O.

By Andrew E. Watrous (d. 1902)

Jacques Offenbach, a French composer of opera bouffe, died on Oct. 5, 1880. His music was melodious and eminently popular.

THE FAN no longer flutters

And the whisper knows control,

For the full contralto utters

The Letter of Perichole.

But the critics, clever people,

They laugh. You’re light, so light—

(And so’s the rain on the steeple,

And the leaves that lift at night.)

And Chopin, Wagner, Handel

(Outgrown the Southern crew)

Are stars. Your fame’s a candle

Death quenched in snuffing you.

But for all the fan ne’er flutters,

And the whisper knows control,

When the full contralto utters

The Letter of Perichole.