poetry by Peter Stambler
(after Charles Dickens)

I. Congressmen

Wheels. Despicable tricksters at elections;
Underhanded tamperers of public officials;
Shameful trucksters to mercenary knaves;
Dishonest Faction, depraved and unblushing;
All stared out from every corner of the crowded hall.

II. Transcendentalists

Out of the rottenness of lectures and cant,
A Boston sect of philosophers has bloomed.
On inquiring what transcendental might signify,
I was given to understand
That whatever was unintelligible
Would certainly be transcendental.
If I were a Bostonian,
I do believe I would join.

III. Ingenuity

Ten-pins is a game of mingled chance and skill
Invented when the Legislature passed an act
Forbidding Nine-pins.

"Congressmen", "Transcendentalists" and "Ingenuity" from Witnesses: A Guided Tour to 19th Centruy America by Peter Stambler, are used with permission. Copyright (c) 1983 by Jump River Press, Inc.