Cobwebs from a Library Corner

This is a book of 57 sections divided into 2 parts. The first part is comprised of 26 poems & the second part concludes with 31 assorted stories & otherwise. John Kendrick Bangs had been known as a jokester & prankster; was also known to be the editor of Puck, perhaps the foremost American humor magazine. Take a peak and see how you end up with a grin on your face and in your heart as well. That is honest Bangsian writing.

By : John Kendrick Bangs (1862 - 1922)

01 - A Pessimistic View 02 - The Master’s Pen—A Confession 03 - Bookworm Ballads (a Literary Feast) 04 - Ideas for Sale 05 - The Author’s Boomerang 06 - To an Egotistical Biographer 07 - No Copyright Needed 08 - Ingredients of Greatness 09 - A Common Favorite 10 - Their Pens 11 - An Unsolved Problem 12 - The Bibliophile’s Threat 13 - My Treasures 14 - A Poet’s Fad 15 - The Poet Undone 16 - A Waning Muse 17 - Modesty 18 - My Lord the Book 19 - The Bibliomiser 20 - The ''Collector'' 21 - A Reader 22 - Fate! 23 - A Pleasing Thought 24 - Books vs. ''Books,'' by a Bibliomaniac 25 - A Confession 26 - The Edition de Looks 27 - Napolini’s Error 28 - My Color 29 - Contentment in Nature 30 - The Heroic Gunner 31 - The Pathetic Tale of the Caddy Boy 32 - Garrulous Wisdom 33 - The Perjury of a Rejected Lover 34 - Maid of Culture 35 - Not Perfect 36 - A City Dweller’s Wish 37 - Where are They? 38 - Memories 39 - A Sad State 40 - Ad Astra per Otium. 41 - Consolation 42 - Satisfaction on Reading ''Not One Dissatisfied,'' by Walt Whitman 43 - To a Withered Rose 44 - The Worst of Enemies 45 - Jokes of the Night 46 - An Autumnal Romance 47 - The Country in July 48 - May 30, 1893 49 - The Curse of Wealth 50 - The Rhyme of the Ancient Populist 51 - One of the Nameless Great 52 - In February Days 53 - A Change of Ambition 54 - Message from Mahatmas 55 - The Gold-seekers 56 - Ode to a Politician 57 - Some are Amateurs

A PESSIMISTIC VIEW

A little bit of Thackeray,

A little bit of Scott,

A modicum of Dickens just

To tangle up the plot,

A paraphrase of Marryat,

Another from Dumas—

You ask me for a novel, sir,

And I say, there you are.

The pen is greater than the sword,

Of that there is no doubt.

The pen for me whene’er I wish

An enemy to rout.

A pen, a pad, and say a pint

Of ink with which to scrawl,

To put a foe to flight is all

That’s needed—truly all.

 But when it comes to making up

A novel in these days

You do not need a pen at all

To win the writer’s bays.

A pair of sharpened scissors and

A wealth of pure white page

Will do it if you have at hand

A pot of mucilage.

So give to me the scissors keen,

And give to me the glue,

And I will fix a novel up

That’s sure to startle you.

The good ideas have all been worked,

But while we’ve gum and paste

There shall be books and books and books

To please the public taste.