A Rich Epigram

Tom Maguire,

Tom with ire,

Lighted on Macdougall,

Grabbed his throat,

Tore his coat,

And split him in the bugle.

Shame! Oh, fie!

Maguire, why

Will you thus skyugle?

Why bang and claw,

And gouge and chaw

The unprepared Macdougall?

Of bones bereft,

See how you’ve left,

Vestvali, gentle Jew gal—

And now you’ve slashed,

And almost hashed,

The form of poor Macdougall.

December 1865