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96
The Inventions of the Idiot
·
John Kendrick Bangs
65
"She
must
be
very
serious
most
of
the
time,"
said
the
Doctor.
"She
is,"
said
the
Idiot,
innocently.
"But
that's
only
because
I'm
flippant
most
of
the
time.
I'm
going
to
give
her
warning.
If
she
doesn't
brace
up
and
take
more
interest
in
her
work
I'm
going
to
get
another
Muse,
that's
all.
I
can't
afford
to
have
my
income
cut
down
fifty
per
cent.
just
because
she
happens
to
be
fickle."
"Maybe
she
is
flirting
with
somebody
else,"
suggested
the
Poet.
"My
Muse
does
that
occasionally."
"I
doubt
it,"
said
the
Idiot.
"I
haven't
observed
any
other
poet
encroaching
upon
my
particular
province.
Even
you,
good
as
you
are,
can't
do
it.
But
in
any
event
I'm
going
to
have
a
change.
The
day
has
gone
by
when
a
one-muse
poet
achieves
greatness.
I'm
going
to
employ
a
half-dozen
and
try
to
corner
the
poetry
market.
Queer
that
in
all
these
years
that
men
have
been
writing
poetry
no
one
has
thought
of
that.
People
get
up
grain
corners,
corners
in
railway
stock,
monopolies
in
gas
and
oil
and
everything
else,
about,
but
as
yet
no
poet
has
cornered
the
market
in
his
business."
"That's
easily
accounted
for,"
said
the
Bibliomaniac.
"The
poet
controls
only
his
own
work,
and
if
he
has
any
sense
he
doesn't
want
to
monopolize
that."
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