SELECT POETRY.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 150, 24 September 1872, Page 7

SELECT POETRY.

CONVERSATION. In spite of whafc the cynics te:;eh, Of ;ill it hides ami a 1 ir. teaches, We cannot well dispense witli speech— Excepting in the form of speeches. Of all the varied gifts we use, Speech is most varied in it uses ; Of all the powers we abuse, Speech gets the most of the abuses ! How slowly Wisdom's words distil ! Yet, like a petrifying fountain, They shrine decay in forms that will Endure ;$ loug as sea and mountain ! While in the rush of words you find The man who shows the most loquacity • Is sure to be the one whose mind Is of the very least capacity. The wise in all the lore of schools Are solemn as their weighty pages : And consequently silent fools Are taken for sagacious sages. Words may be very insincere— Deeds best demonstrate who's sineeresfc ; And every one likes " Faire nans din," E'en froin the fairest and the deare"st! Some people never care to try To get at other people's knowledge ; They seem to think that Learning's " dry,'! And ought to be confined to college ! For them the streams from Wisdom's spring, Disperse in unproductive vapours ; And nothing is in anything That isn't in the daily papers ! How very seldom does a man Join properly in conversation ! Each has a notion that he can (live, rather than gain, information. Some demon fancy, fact, or thought, Has of his mind the sole possession, And all beside he deems as nought But worthless sound and wrong impression Then there's the man you sometimes see, Whose morbid brain is always running On jokes, where none are meant to be, And violent attempts at punning. No observation can be made, But he commences searching after Some joke, conundrum, or charade, Until it grows too sad for laughter. Of course we never can embrace In these remarks those lovely ladies, Who lend society such grace, And talk like modern Sche'razades. But hearts are won by heart—not head ; And if you'd .rather love than pity, Be nice ami natural, instead Of trying to be wise and witty ! In fine, if anyone must say * His say, let it be no intrusion ; Do it in private—that's the way To cause the very least confusion. • Monopoly is quite gone out. In talk as well as other matters, And people who will always " spout" Are taken to be mad as '-' hatters !" Speeches are made but to be read, For few can hear ; but read them—many ; And so the world learns what is said, By laying out a daily penny. Wc bless that man in private life "Who writes—not talks —his lucubration ; Who keeps his lectures for—his wife, But shares with friands his conversation ! — Abridged from the " Dark Blue."