TKIUMPH OF THE ANTI'S. 189 



E'en pipes were dropp'd despairing all, save one, 



One man was faithful to his pipe, and kept 



Despair and deeper misery at bay, 



By seeking ever for a " topper," dropped 



From some spurned pipe, but that he could not find; 



So, with a piteous and perpetual glare, 



And a quick dissolute word, sucking the pipe, 



Which answer'd never with a whiff, he slept; 



The crowd dispersed by slow degrees, but two 



Of all the dreary company remain'd, 



And they kept 'bacca shops ; they sat upon 



The scented lid of a tobacco tub, 



Wherein was heap'd a mass of coined bronze 



Profits of 'bacca sold they were sold out ; 



They, grinning, scraped with their warm, eager hands 



The little halfpence and the bigger pence, 



Counted a little time, and cried " Haw! haw! " 



Like a whole rookery ; then lifted up 



The tub as it grew lighter, and beheld 



Each other's profits ; saw, and smiled, and winked, 



Uncaring that the world was poor indeed, 



So they were rich in pence. The world was mad, 



The populace and peerage both alike 



Birds Eyeless, Shagless, and returnless, too 



Oh! day of death, oh! chaos of hard times! 



And princes, dukes, and lords, they all stood still, 



Feeling within their pockets' silent depths ; 



And sailors went a-moaning out to sea, 



And chew'd their cables piecemeal : then they wept, 



And slept on the abyss without a quid. 



All quids were gone, cigars were in their graves ; 



The plant, their mother, had been rooted up ; 



Pawnbrokers had a ton of pipes apiece, 



And " Antis " triumph'd. Then they had no need 



To keep a " Sec.," so Reynolds got the " sack." 



One of the best of all parodies is one in imitation of Long- 

 fellow's " Excelsior," entitled " Tobacco." It is from " Copis' 

 Tobacco Plant." 



" The summer blight was falling fast, 

 When straight through dirty London passed 

 A youth, who bore, through road and street, 

 A packet, thereon written neat ; 



"Tobacco!" 



