"To Literary Students" (1890)

To Literary Students

Oh, you who raise to fame's resplendent domes

        The books that tell of Buddha and Mahoun;

        Oh, you who go to the libraries in the town

(In such strange paths the fancy sometimes roams)

To read of Isben; you who in your homes

        Are busy turning Browning upside down,

        Who feel a touch of honor and renown

In digging deep in o'er mysterious tomes

I pity you, alas! you do not feel

        The exultation and the ecstasy

                The joy unlimited that comes to him

Who, striving no enigmas to reveal,

        Keeps track of all newspaper poetry

                And revels in a tale like "Deadwood Jim!"

                                                -Nathan M. Levy, in Judge.

Illustrated Buffalo Express. October 26, 1890: 2 col 4.