Lines To Allan Erie (C.W. Willis)

Dear Allan Erie, just a line:

The papers came, we like ‘em fine;

One I will keep, and one send on

Unto my brother, down in Conn.

We look with joy to this day week

When you, all dressed and groomed and sleek,

And the Junior Partner will be here,

To light and bless our atmosphere.

Save up your appetites ahead

For our Delmonicouish spread.

Come early to avoid the rush,

And don’t get lost in Gungy’s brush.

This pen, you mentioned Wednesday night,

With which I jokes and poems write,

And which you said you’d like to keep,

I send, tho’ I should surely weep,

If I should find, and do not doubt it,

That you were simply joking about it.

Dec. 18, ‘98

               

Under the name Allan Eric, Mr. Willis also wrote books on cycling, including ‘Following the Tow-Path and Adirondacks Awheel’ (1898) and ‘Cycle Gleanings, or Wheels and Wheeling for Business and Pleasure and the Study of Nature’ (1894) and was a member and officer of The New England Paint and Oil Club.