Wit and Humor of America, The Vol 07

<h2>IT IS TIME TO BEGIN TO CONCLUDE</h2> <h3>BY A.H. LAIDLAW</h3> <div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Ye Parsons, desirous all sinners to save,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And to make each a prig or a prude,<br/></span> <span class="i0">If two thousand long years have not made us behave,<br/></span> <span class="i2">It is time you began to conclude.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Ye Husbands, who wish your sweet mates to grow mum,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And whose tongues you have never subdued,<br/></span> <span class="i0">If ten years of your reign have not made them grow dumb,<br/></span> <span class="i2">It is time to begin to conclude.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Ye Matrons of men whose brown meerschaum still mars<br/></span> <span class="i2">The sweet kiss with tobacco bedewed,<br/></span> <span class="i0">After pleading nine years, if they still puff cigars,<br/></span> <span class="i2">It is time you began to conclude.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Ye Lawyers, who aim to reform all the land,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And your statutes forever intrude,<br/></span> <span class="i0">If five thousand lost years have not worked as you planned,<br/></span> <span class="i2">It is time to begin to conclude.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Ye Lovers, who sigh for the heart of a maid,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And forty-four years have pursued,<br/></span> <span class="i0">If two scores of young years have not taught you your trade,<br/></span> <span class="i2">It is time you began to conclude.</span><span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_1295" id="Page_1295"></SPAN></span><br/></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Ye Doctors, who claim to cure every ill,<br/></span> <span class="i2">And so much of mock learning exude,<br/></span> <span class="i0">If the <i>Comma Bacillus</i> still laughs at your pill,<br/></span> <span class="i2">It is time to begin to conclude.<br/></span></div> <div class="stanza"> <span class="i0">Ye Maidens of Fifty, who lonely abide,<br/></span> <span class="i2">Yet who heartily scout solitude,<br/></span> <span class="i0">If Jack with his whiskers is not at your side,<br/></span> <span class="i2">It is time to begin to conclude.<br/></span> <span class='pagenum'><SPAN name="Page_1296" id="Page_1296"></SPAN></span></div> </div> <hr style="width: 65%;" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />