A CHANGE OF AMBITION

HORATIUS at the bridge, and he

Who fought at old Thermopylæ;

Great Samson and his potent bone

By which the Philistines were slone;

Small David with his wondrous aim

That did for him of giant frame;

J. Cæsar in his Gallic scraps

That made him lord of other chaps;

Sweet William, called the Conqueror,

Who made the Briton sick of war;

King Hal the Fifth, who nobly fought

And thrashed the foe at Agincourt;

Old Bonaparte, and Washington,

And Frederick, and Wellington,

Decatur, Nelson, Fighting Joe,

And Farragut, and Grant, and, oh,

A thousand other heroes I

Have wished I were in days gone by —

Can take their laurels from my door,

For I don’ t want’ em any more.

The truth will out; it can’ t be hid;

The doughty deed that Dewey did,

In that far distant Spanish sea,

Is really good enough for me.

The grammar’ s bad, but, O my son,

I wish I’ d did what Dewey done!