by il miglior fabbro hisself, Ezra P.
O God, O
Venus, O
Mercury,
patron of thieves,
Give me in due time, I beseech you, a little
tobacco-shop,
With the little bright boxes
piled up neatly upon the shelves
And the loose fragrant
cavendish
and the
shag,
And the bright
Virginia
loose under the bright glass cases,
And a pair of scales not too greasy,
And the
whores dropping in for a word or two in passing,
For a
flip word, and to tidy their hair a bit.
O
God, O
Venus, O
Mercury,
patron of thieves,
Lend me a little
tobacco-shop,
or install me in any profession
Save this damn'd profession of
writing,
where one needs one's brains all the time.