188 A BAD DREAM. 



" I had a dream, and it was all a dream : 

 Tobacco was abolish'd, and cigars 

 Were flung by " Antis " fearsome space 

 The foreign and the British fared alike 

 And the blue smoke was blown beyond the moon. 

 Night came and went and came, and brought no " weed, 1 

 And men forgot their suppers, in the dread 

 Of the dire desolation ; and all tongues 

 Were tingling with the taste of empty pipes ; 

 And they did live all wretched ; old hay bands, 

 And street-door mats, and clover brown and dry; 

 Carpets, rope-yarn, and such things as men sell, 

 Were burnt for 'bacca ; haystacks were consumed, 

 And men were gathered round each blazing mass, 

 To have another makeshift sniff. 

 Happy were those who smoked, with smould'ring logs, 

 The harmless Yarmouth bloater after death 

 Another pipe not all the world contain'd ; 

 The furze was set on fire, but, hour by hour, 

 The stock diminish'd ; all the prickly points 

 Quivered to death, and soon it all was gone. 

 The lips of men by the expiring stuff 

 Drew in and out, and all the world had fits. 

 The cinders fell upon them ; some sprang up, 

 And blew their noses loud, and some did stand 

 Upon their heads, and sway'd despairing feet ; 

 And others madly up and down the world 

 With " two-pence " hurried, shouting out for " Shag; H 

 And wink'd and blink'd at th' unclouded sky, 

 The " Anti's " smokeless banner then again 

 Flung all their halfpence down into the dust, 

 And chewed their tainted pockets ; snuffers wept, 

 And, flatt'ning noses on the dreary ground, 

 Inhaled the useless dust; the biggest " rough" 

 Came mild, tobacco-begging ; p'liccment came, 

 And mix'd themselves among the multitude, 

 Run in " forgotten ; uniforms were chew'd, 

 And teeth which for a moment had had rest, 

 Did move themselves again ; old beaver hats 

 Fetch'd little fortunes ; they were torn in bits, 

 And smok'd or chcw'd at will ; no bits were left. 

 All earth was but one thought, and that was smoke, 

 Immediate and glorious ; and a pnn b ' 

 Of horror came at intervals, and men 

 Cried ; and the boys were restless as themselves, 

 Till by degrees their stockings were devour 'd ; 



