lunes, 2 de diciembre de 2013

Alphabet of Celebrities, de Olivier Herford (2º parte)


O is for Oliver, casting aspersion
on Omar, that awfully dissolute Persian,
though secretly longing to join the diversion.
P is for Peter, who hollers "No! No!"
through the keyhole to Paine, Paderewski, and Poe.
Q is the Queen, so noble and free—
for further particulars look under V.
R is Rubenstein, playing that old thing in F
to Rollo and Rembrandt, who wish they were deaf.
S is for Swinburne, who, seeking the true,
the good, and the beautiful, visits the Zoo,
where he chances on Sappho and Mr. Sardou,
and Socrates, all with the same end in view.

T is for Talleyrand toasting Miss Truth,
by the side of her well, in a glass of vermouth,
and presenting Mark Twain as the friend of his youth.
U is for Undine, pursuing Ulysses
and Umberto, who flee her damp, death-dealing kisses.
V is Victoria, noble and true—
for further particulars look under Q.
W' s  Wagner, who sang and played lots for
   Washington, Wesley, and good Doctor Watts.

his prurient plots pained Wesley and Watts,
but Washington said he "enjoyed them in spots."
X is Xantippe, who's having her say,
his prurient plots pained Wesley and Watts,
and frightening the army of Xerxes away.
Y is for Young, the great Mormon saint,
who thinks little Yum Yum and Yvette so quaint,
he has to be instantly held in restraint.

Z is for Zola, presenting La Terre
to Zenobia the brave and Zuleika the fair,
whose blushes they artfully conceal with their hair.


This Alphabet of Celebrities written & pictured by Oliver Herford with a border & initial letters by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and end papers & cover design by E. B. Bird is printed for Small Maynard & Company at the Heintzemann Press in Boston U. S. A. in the month of November
MDCCCXCIX

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