Public-domain source text

A “Mute Inglorious Milton”

by Ambrose Bierce

From Standard Ebooks · standardebooks/ambrose-bierce_poetry

“O, I’m the Unaverage Man, But you never have heard of me, For my brother, the Average Man, outran My fame with rapiditee, And I’m sunk in Oblivion’s sea; But my bully big brother the world can span With his wide notorietee. I do everything that I can To make ’em attend to me, But the papers ignore the Unaverage Man With a weird uniformitee.”
So sang with a dolorous note A voice that I heard from the beach; On the sable waters it seemed to float Like a mortal part of speech. The sea was Oblivion’s sea, And I cried as I plunged to swim: “The Unaverage Man shall reside with me.” But he didn’t⁠—I stayed with him!

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