Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). The New Poetry: An Anthology. 1917.
HadleyburgWilliam Griffith
J
Was half a knave and half a clown,
Nor saner than the law allowed:
With all its stiff restraints and prim
Observances, the place, he vowed,
Had too much starch in it for him;
And kept itself upon the jump
To whip the devil round the stump.
Distinguished men from walking trees,
Was sagely then and there agreed:
But, bent on laughing them to scorn,
Mad John, denying them a creed,
Resolved to stray amid the corn,
And eavesdropping from stalk to stalk,
To hear some goblin money talk.
He fell into a reverie,
Beholding them so smugly housed;
And pondered what would happen had
Some sudden thunder been aroused!
Thinking of which the silly lad
Collapsed beside a brawling brook,
And laughed until the welkin shook.