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Beers 

Henry A. Beers
1847-1926

 
"What's in a Name?"

 

The legislature passed a law,
Arkan'sas should be Ar'kansaw.
Tis well; and if I had my way,
Io'wa should be I'oway.
To men who deal in real estate
The difference may not seem so great
'Twixt ante—and penultimate—
Twixt tweedle-dum and tweedle-dee;
But they who deal in poesie
Are fain to make their boatman row
Euphonious "down the O'hio."
The name R. Kansas doth provoke
A cacographic A. Ward joke.
Io'we a, too! The sound begets
Abortive puns on bonded debts,
Io'wa's not a state of grace:
I wouldn't live in such a place.
But, though they're rather far away,
I think I'd like to go and stay
In Ar'kansaw or I'oway.

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