The World’s Wit and Humor: An Encyclopedia in 15 Volumes. 1906.
Eva L. OgdenThe Sea
S
A poor and unknown artist he.
“Paint me,” she said, “a view of the sea.”
That Aphrodite arose from its spray;
And it broke, as she gazed on its face the while,
Into its countless-dimpled smile.
“What a poky, stupid picture!” said she;
“I don’t believe he can paint the sea!”
Storming, with fierce and sudden shock,
Wild cries, and writhing tongues of foam,
A towering, mighty fastness-rock.
In its sides, above those leaping crests,
The thronging sea-birds built their nests.
“What a disagreeable daub!” said she;
“Why, it isn’t anything like the sea!”
With a big hotel on either hand,
And a handsome pavilion for the band—
Not a sign of the water to be seen
Except one faint little streak of green.
“What a perfectly exquisite picture!” said she;
“It’s the very image of the sea!”