BY GEORGE T. LANIGAN.
It was an Amateur Dram. Ass.,
(Kind hearer, although your
Knowledge of French is not first-class,
Don't call that Amature.)
It was an Amateur Dram. Ass.,
The which did warfare wage
On the dramatic works of this
And every other age.
It had a walking gentleman,
A leading juvenile,
First lady in book-muslin dressed.
With a galvanic smile;
Thereto a singing chambermaid,
Benignant heavy pa,
And oh, heavier still was the heavier vill-
Ain, with his fierce "Ha! Ha!"
There wasn't an author from Shakespeare down--
Or up--to Boucicault,
These amateurs weren't competent
To collar and assault.
And when the winter time came round--
"Season" 's a stagier phrase--
The Am. Dram. Ass. assaulted one
Of the Bard of Avon's plays.
'Twas _As You Like It_ that they chose;
For the leading lady's heart
Was set on playing _Rosalind_
Or some other page's part,
And the President of the Am. Dram. Ass.,
A stalwart dry-goods clerk,
Was cast for _Oriando_, in which _role_
He felt he'd make his mark.
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