For the wheels were just as strong as the thills,
And the floor was just as strong as the sills,
And the panels just as strong as the floor,
And the whippletree neither less nor more,
And the back crossbar as strong as the fore,
And spring and axle and hub encore.°
And yet, as a whole, it is past a doubt
In another hour it will be worn out!

First of November, 'Fifty-five!
This morning the parson takes a drive.
Now, small boys, get out of the way!
Here comes the wonderful one-hoss shay,
Drawn by a rat-tailed, ewe-necked bay.
"Huddup!" said the parson.-Off went they.
The parson was working his Sunday's text,-
Had got to fifthly, and stopped perplexed
At what the Moses-was coming next.
All at once the horse stood still,
Close by the meet'n'-house on the hill.
First a shiver, and then a thrill,

Then something decidedly like a spill,-
And the parson was sitting upon a rock,
At half past nine by the meet'n'-house clock,—
Just the hour of the Earthquake shock!
What do you think the parson found,
When he got up and stared around?
The poor old chaise in a heap or mound,
As if it had been to the mill and ground!
You see, of course, if you're not a dunce,
How it went to pieces all at once,-
All at once, and nothing first,-
Just as bubbles do when they burst.

End of the wonderful one-hoss shay.
Logic is logic. That's all I say.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes

Words: shay-a word used by some people for "chaise," a twowheeled carriage. See the picture of a chaise in the large dictionary; parson-preacher; deacon-an officer in the church; felloe-a part of the rim of a wheel; thoroughbrace-leather strap; thills-shafts; bison-buffalo; encore a word that calls one to repeat what he has just said or sung. Holmes's meaning is that he would simply repeat

the description of the preceding parts; logic-correct reasoning.

Questions: Note that the point of the poem, the point that makes possible all the rest, is found in the second line. What do you think of the Deacon's reasoning? Who is meant in lines 10-11? How does Holmes fix the date on which the carriage was completed? How does he prepare you to expect something important in fifty-five? Can you imagine Holmes laughing as he shows that the story must end as it does?

THE OLD MAN DREAMS

(The Bible says: "A merry heart doth good like a medicine." In this poem and others written by Dr. Holmes we feel the cheering influence of the kindly author's merry heart.)

-My listening angel heard the prayer, And calmly smiling, said,

"If I but touch thy silvered hair, Thy hasty wish hath sped.°

"But is there nothing in thy track
To bid thee fondly stay,

While the swift seasons hurry back
To find the wished-for day?"

"Ah, truest soul of womankind! Without thee, what were life? One bliss I can not leave behind: I'll take-my-precious-wife!"

-The angel took a sapphire pen
And wrote in rainbow dew,
"The man would be a boy again,
And be a husband too!"

"And is there nothing yet unsaid Before the change appears? Remember, all their gifts have fled With those dissolving years!"'

"Why, yes; for memory would recall
My fond parental joys;

I could not bear to leave them all;
I'll take-my-girl-and-boys!"

The smiling angel dropped his pen,-
"Why, this will never do;
The man would be a boy again,
And be a father too!"

And so I laughed,—my laughter woke
The household with its noise,-

And wrote my dream, when morning broke,
To please the gray-haired boys.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes

Words: trophies-accomplishments, successes; sped-been granted. Questions: Do you believe that Dr. Holmes ever lost his youthful spirit? Have you ever heard it said that some people are sixty years old, while others are sixty years young? It may interest you to know that one of Dr. Holmes's "gray-haired boys" is a member of the United States Supreme Court.

The mossy marbles rest

On the lips that he has prest
In their bloom,

And the names he loved to hear
Have been carved for many a year
On the tomb.

My grandmamma has said-
Poor old lady, she is dead
Long ago—

That he had a Roman nose,

And his cheek was like a rose
In the snow.

But now his nose is thin,

And it rests upon his chin
Like a staff,

And a crook is in his back,
And a melancholy crack
In his laugh.

I know it is a sin

For me to sit and grin

At him here;

But the old three-cornered hat,
And the breeches, and all that,
Are so queer!

And if I should live to be

The last leaf upon the tree
In the spring,—

Let them smile, as I do now,

At the old forsaken bough

Where I cling.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes