A Dream Of Quiet-town

If only we could have some bells

     That wouldn’t ring at all;

If roosters in the early morn

     Would never crow or call.

If dogs were never heard to bark,

     Nor Tom cats to meow,

How much more peaceful life would be

     Than what it is just now.

If women ne’er would scold at all,

     And babies wouldn’t cry;

If hawkers thro’ the city streets

     Were gagged when passing by.

If organs, thro’ the country towns,

     Were ground no more, I trow

That life would be more full of joy

     Than what it is just now.

If trolley cars would cease to hum,

     And donkeys cease to bray;

If autos wouldn’t whirr and “honk”

     Along the still highway.

If folks would cease to sing their songs

     Of woe, all must allow

This life would be a dream compared

     With what it is just now.

Nov. 25, 1904