The Height of the Ridiculous

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1. I WROTE some lines once on a time
2. In wondrous merry mood,
3. And thought, as usual, men would say
4. They were exceeding good.
5.  
6. They were so queer, so very queer,
7. I laughed as I would die;
8. Albeit, in the general way,
9. A sober man am I.
10.  
11. I called my servant, and he came;
12. How kind it was of him
13. To mind a slender man like me,
14. He of the mighty limb.
15.  
16. "These to the printer," I exclaimed,
17. And, in my humorous way,
18. I added, (as a trifling jest,)
19. "There'll be the devil to pay."
20.  
21. He took the paper, and I watched,
22. And saw him peep within;
23. At the first line he read, his face
24. Was all upon the grin.
25.  
26. He read the next; the grin grew broad,
27. And shot from ear to ear;
28. He read the third; a chuckling noise
29. I now began to hear.
30.  
31. The fourth; he broke into a roar;
32. The fifth; his waistband split;
33. The sixth; he burst five buttons off,
34. And tumbled in a fit.
35.  
36. Ten days and nights, with sleepless eye,
37. I watched that wretched man,
38. And since, I never dare to write
39. As funny as I can.