Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Scarce one tall frigate walks the sea
Or skirts the safer shores
Of all that bore to read more

Scarce one tall frigate walks the sea
Or skirts the safer shores
Of all that bore to victory
Our stout old Commodores.

Everything is twice as large, measured on a three-year-old's
three-foot scale on a thirty-year-old's six-foot scale.

Everything is twice as large, measured on a three-year-old's
three-foot scale on a thirty-year-old's six-foot scale.

Stop not, unthinking, every friend you meet
To spin your wordy fabric in the street;
While you read more

Stop not, unthinking, every friend you meet
To spin your wordy fabric in the street;
While you are emptying your colloquial pack,
The fiend Lumbago jumps upon his back.

Ay, here her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has read more

Ay, here her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky.

It cannot be repeated too often that the safety of great wealth
with us lies in obedience to the read more

It cannot be repeated too often that the safety of great wealth
with us lies in obedience to the new version of the Old World
axiom--Richesse oblige.