Loyola University Maryland - Evergreen / Green and Gray Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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22 THE LOYOLA ANNUAL Suggml, mh pnrtrg. O many minds the word “poetry” conveys an uncertain, indefinite meaning, and seems to cover every species of rhythm that the intellect of man has ever evolved. Many peo- ple like to read the limericks and squibs of the daily papers and the magazines; some delight in dashing poems of daring adventure; other heartsick maidens “love” the sentimental lyrics; v hile certain persons get the pamphlets of “poems” issued by the many budding authors around town — such as Prof. Geddes, for instance — , and devour their contents with pleasure ; but all, no matter what style they prefer, de- clare that they “just dote on poetry,” and they think that their taste for good literature is exceedingly well developed. But their conception of the word “poetry” is too broad. They include under this division writings that should fall under the heading of verse or doggerel; and this notwithstanding the fact that these species of rhyme are entirely distinct from the afore-named one. Doggerel itself may be considered as separated into two classes — the intentional and the unintentional. Hood has writ- ten a number of works which were meant to be doggerel, and the mind of the reader, entering into the spirit of the author, enjoys the “poems” greatly. The following is the last stanza of one of his well-known successor, and illustrates how he often makes use of a play on words, or a comical combination of ideas. It relates the sad end of an old sailor, who, after several years on the sea, returned only to find his sweetheart married to another m an ; and thereupon died of grief.

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THE LOYOLA ANNUAL 21 eyes. He disappeared from view in a moment, but that face haunted me and I had serious doubts of the safety of the limited that night. The next day, however, I was relieved to find no account of an accident in the papers. The morning after that, I was again in the depot to leave Ogden on a way train. Walking to the end of the station, I saw a little group of men carrying a stretcher on which v as something covered with a blanket. Among them I recognized the conductor of the limited, and immediately went up to him. “It’s Bob Williams,” he said. “He stuck to his post like a man, but this morning he couldn’t stand it any longer. He left his cab for good to give up his job of engineer. The fire- man started to run 2001 into the roundhouse. Bob was v alk- ing up the track instead of away from it, and the fireman didn’t see him in the shadow of the signal-tower until too late. That’s all there is to tell.” Charles S. Lerch, ’ll. ulrtolrt. Much is said to depend On an athlete’s condition — Just how much he shall spend. May be said to depend. And as for an end To his long repetition. Much is said to depend On an athlete’s condition.

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THE LOYOLA ANNUAL 23 “His death, which happened in his berth, At forty odd befell: They went and told the sexton, and The sexton tolled the bell.” Saxe also has bent his efforts in this direction, as did Edwin Lear in his “Nonsense Songs and the results of their endeav- ors help to enliven many a dull evening for their readers. This species of rhyme likewise serves other purposes, filling up a good portion of the college-papers and magazines of the day, while at the same time it has been used extensively for advertising. The general type that abounds in the college publications runs largely to limericks, much more so than other styles, and is something like this: “There was a young lady of Lynn, Who was so exceedingly thin. That when she essayed To drink lemonade, She slipped through the straw, and fell in.” But some of the best examples of doggerel are found in the comic papers, especially the rhym.es of the famous Jingling Johnson, which appear in the Sunday supplements. They dis- play such an utter lack of sense, of coherence, and, in fact, of everything that they ought to have, that they amuse by their very incongruity. And lastly, as an example of its use as an advertising medium I might cite a four-lined squib, often seen in the streetcars of today, extolling the praises of “Campbell’s Soups:” “The bowl v as large, the boy was small. They said he couldn’t eat it all: But that’s exactly what he did Because he was a Campbell Kid.”