RIDDLES: OLD AND NEW

Evening Star, Issue 12551, 8 July 1905, Page 11

RIDDLES: OLD AND NEW

Probably the best riddle, or rather enigma, as far.as versification and wording are concerned, is the following, which when H first appeared was credited again and again to Lord Byron, but now it is known that it was written by Hiss Catherine Fanshawe:— THE LETTER H. 'Twas whispered in Heaven, 'twas mattered in Hell, And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell; On the confines of earth 'twaa permitted to rest, And the depths of the ocean its presence, confessed; • Twill be found' in the sphere when it's riven asunder; Be see a in the lightning and beard in the thunder; 'Twas'Titlotted to man with his earliest breath, It assists at Lis birth and attends him in death, Presides o'er his happiness, honor, and health, Is the prop of bis house and the end of his wealth; In the heaps of the miser it's hoarded with care, But is ,sure to be lost in his prodigal heir; It begins every hope, every wish jt must bound; It prays with the hermit, with monarchs is crowned; Without it the soldier, the sailor, may roam, But woe to the wretch who expels it from home; In the whisper of conscience itfs sure to be found; Nor e'en in the whirlwind of passion is drowned; 'Twill soften the heart-, but, though deaf to. the ear, It will make it acutely and instantly hear; But; in short, let it l<3St like a delicate flower, Oh, breathe on it. softly; it dies in an hour. Another in the same vein, and almost as well put, is far too good to remain unaudited and unclaimed, but such has been its fate: — 'THE LETTER I. I am not in youth nor in manhood nor age, But in -nfancv ever am. known; I in a stranger alike to the foo! and the sage, And, though I'm distinguished in history's page, I always am greatest alone. I'm not in the earth, nor the sun, fior the moon; You may cearch all the sky—l'm not there; In the morning and evening, though not in the noon, You may plainly perceive me, for, like a balloon, Tni always suspended in air. Though disease may possess me, and sickness and pain, I am never in sorrow or gloom; Though in wit and in wisdom I equally reign, I am the heart of all sin, and have lived long in vain; Yet I ne'er shall be found in the tomb. Still another gem without a claimant is this: — THE VOWELS. Wc are little airy creatures, All of different voice and features. One of us in glass is set. One of us you'll find in jet, j T'other you may see in tin, And the fourth a box within; If the fifth you should pursue, It can never fly from you. Macaulay was charsed with the following adroit one on " Cod," and shook off the credit only by persistent denials: Cut off my head, and singular I am; Cut off my tail, and plural I appear; Cut off my head and tail, and, wondrous fact, Although my middle's left, there"s nothing there. What is my first ? It is the sounding sea. What is "ray last? It is a flowing river. And in theis mingling depths I wander free, Parent of sweetest sounds, though mute forever. A brilliant Chicagoan is responsible for this pretty ono on the word " Notice " : My. second is cold; my first is not, A little change will make it hot; You may take it sometimes and sometimes give: But court, it never as long as you live. It was a master of Trinity who put forth the following: U O a. 6, but I O th?a; O O no O, but O O me; Thon lpt t'ot my O a O go, But give O O I O thee so. (You sigh for a cypher, but I sigh for thee; O. oigh" for no cipher, but O. sigh for me; Then let iiot my sigh for a cipher go. But give sigh for sigh, for I sigh for thee so.) Nearly every language has one or more riddles made up after this fashion: stand take . to takings 1 you throw my I understand You undertake To overthrow My undertakings. Coming down to simpler, though scarcely less meritorious, riddles, and avoiding some lime worn specimens that nearly everybody knows, such as the one beginning " As I was going to St. Ives," here are a few that had great success when first propounded, and t>re embalmed for ever in books of the past:— The French, Italians, and Germans each m:vo the following clever one:—"He that made it 'twas to sell it; he that bought it did not want it; hj» that used it never saw ii." One hardly could guess it; but see how cleverly a coffin fits it. Professor De Morgan's capital riddle:—

How do you know there is no danger of starving in the desert? —Because of the sand which is (sandwiches) there. And how do yon know yon will get sandwiches there?— Because Ham went into the desert, and his descendants bred (bread) and mastered (mustard) there*. What is that which sweetens the cap of life, but which, if it loses but one letter, embitters it P—Hope and hop. Why is the figure 9 like a peacock?— Because it is nothing without its tail. How do you know that birds in their nests agree ?—Because else they wonM fall out. Why do. ducks go under water?— For divers reasons. And why do ducks come up again?— For sun-diy reasons. Where is happiness always to be found?— In the dictionary. What is that which is often found where it is not?— Fault. What fish has its eyes nearest together?— The smallest. When does a man sneeze thrice? —When he can't help it. Which is the lareest room in the world?— Room for improvement.