Once, when a lad, it was my hap
To gain my mother's kind permission
To go and see a foreign chap
Who called himself "The Great Magician";
I recollect his wondrous skill
In diverse mystic conjurations,
And how the fellow wrought at will
The most prodigious transformations. I recollect the nervous man
Within whose hat the great deceiver
Broke eggs, as in a frying-pan,
And took 'em smoking from the beaver!
I recollect the lady's shawl
Which the magician rent asunder,
And then restored; but, best of all,
I recollect the Ribbon-Wonder! I mean, of course, the funny freak
In which the wizard, at his pleasure,
Spins lots of ribbons from his cheek
(Where he had hid 'em, at his leisure).
Yard after yard, of every hue,
Comes blazing out, and still the fellow
Keeps spinning ribbons, red and blue,
And black, and white, and green, and yellow! I ne'er shall see another show
To rank with the immortal "Potter's";
He's dead and buried long ago,
And others charm our sons and daughters;
Years--years have fled--alas! How quick,
Since I beheld the Great Magician,
And yet I've seen the Ribbon-Trick
In many a curious repetition! Thus, when an author I have read
Who much amazed the world of letters
With gems his fluent pen has shed,
(All nicely pilfered from his betters),
Presto!--'tis done!--and all complete,
As in my youth's enraptured vision,
I've seen again the Ribbon-Feat,
And thought about the Great Magician! So, when a sermon I have heard
Made up of bits of borrowed learning,
Some cheap mosaic which has stirred
The wonder of the undiscerning--
Swift as a flash has memory then
Recalled the ancient exhibition;
I saw the Ribbon-Trick again
And thought about the Great Magician! So when some flippant man-o'-jokes,
Though in himself no dunce was duller,
Has dazzled all the simple folks
With brilliant jests of every color--
I've whispered thus (while fast and thick
The changes flashed across my vision): --
"How well he plays the Ribbon-Trick!
By Jove!--he beats the Great Magician!" I ne'er shall see another show
To rank with the immortal "Potter's";
He's dead and buried long ago,
And others charm our sons and daughters;
Years--years have fled--alas! How quick,
Since I beheld the Great Magician,
And yet I've seen the Ribbon-Trick
In many a curious repetition!