WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

Waikato Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2224, 9 October 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

I know a man, and his name was Homer, Who used to live on Grumble Corner : Grumble Corner in Cross-Patch Town, And he was never seen without a frown. He grumbled at this j he grumbled at that ; He growled at the dog ; he growled at the cat; . He grumbled at morning ; he grumbled at ni K nt J * i L . u- * And to grumble and growl were his chief delight ; He grumbled so much at his wife that she Began to grumble as well as he ; And all the children, wherever they went, Reflected their patent's discontent. If the sky was dark and betokened rain, Than Mr Homer was sure to complain ; And it there was never a cloud about He'd grumble because of a. threatened , drought. His meals were never to suit his taste ; He grumbled at hn\ ing to eat in haste ; The bread was poor, or the meat was ■ tough, Or else he hadn't had half enough. No matter how bard his wife might try To please her husband, with scornful eye He'd look around, and then, with a scowl At something or other, begin to growl. One day, as I loitered along the street, My* old acquaintance I chanced to meet, Whose face was without the look of care And the ugly frown that it used to wear, "I may be mistaken, perhaps," I said, As, after saluting, I turned my head ; j " But it is, and it isn't, the Mr Homer Who lived for so long on Grumble Corner !" I met him next day : and I met him again, In melting weather, and pouring rain, When stocks were up, and when stocks were down: But a smile somehow had replaced the frown, It puzzled me much ; and so, one day, I seized his hand in a friendly way, And said : "Mr Homer, I'd like to know What can have happened to change you I so?" He laughed a laugh that wa3 good to hear ; For it told of a conscience calm and clear, And he said, with none of th» old-time .drawl : II Why, I've changed my residence, that is all !" "Changed your residence?" "Yes," said Homer, It wasn't healthy on Grumble Corner, And so I moved; 'twas a change complete : And you find me now on Thanksgiving Street I" Now, every day as I move along The streets so filled with the busy throng, I watch each face, and can always tell Where men and women and children dwell ; And many a discontented mourner Is spending his days on Grumble Corner, Sour, and sad, whom I long to entreat To take a house on Thanksgiving Street. Josephine Pollard.