Page:Poems Merrill.djvu/151

THE POETRY MACHINE

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Pray, have you ever heard about—
 Or have you ever seen
That Pearl of Ingenuity—
 A Poetry Machine?
The wonderous thing is fashioned
 With most exquisite skill;
Designed precisely to obey
 The operator's will.

When touched by "Muse's" magic wand
 The thought-waves throb and spout;
Then, by the turning of the crank
 It grinds the verses out.—
The sweet, poetic stanzas
 Of equal length will be;
Then, clipping off the ragged lines
 It makes a poem.—See?

And 'tis an elegant thing to have
 When you're "down in luck" you think—
(And the only cost is a trivial sum
 Of some of your mental chink.)