William Griffith. Hadleyburg. Harriet Monroe, ed. Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912-22

Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22.

Hadleyburg

By William Griffith

From “Woodwinds”

Hadleyburg was the most honest and upright town in all the region round about.—Mark Twain.

JOHN BARLEYCORN he said the town
Was half a knave and half a clown,
Nor saner than the law allowed:
With all its stiff restraints and prim
Observances, the place, he vowed,	5
Had too much starch in it for him;
And kept itself upon the jump
To whip the devil round the stump.

That crooked souls and crooked knees
Distinguished men from walking trees,	10
Was sagely then and there agreed:
But, bent on laughing them to scorn,
Mad John, denying them a creed,
Resolved to stray amid the corn,
And eavesdropping from stalk to stalk,	15
To hear some goblin money talk.

And, peeping from behind a bee,
He fell into a reverie,
Beholding them so smugly housed;
And pondered what would happen had	20
Some sudden thunder been aroused!
Thinking of which the silly lad
Collapsed beside a brawling brook,
And laughed until the welkin shook.