He's only a newspaper man ...
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By Bill Wundram | Sunday, September 21, 2008 |
Everything has a week or a day; coming up soon is National Newspaper Week. It’s a moment to reread this paean to the press. Author unknown, but it appeared 130 years ago in the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper. Much is still relevant today. It makes toiling in the vineyards of ink so worthwhile …
We are nobody,
Only the slave of the pen.
The place which we designate “sanctum”
Is the lair of the beast or a den.
Our work anyone could accomplish?
Just try it, dear sir, if you can.
You’ll find that in one thing you’re lacking.
’Tis the snap of the newspaper man.
I’ve stood where mankind is on the balance
And weighed by the standard of gold.
The creatures of beauty and fashion
Whose life is a frivolous span.
Drew aside, as if there were contagion
In the touch of a newspaper man!
They sneer and the looks say I’m only —
Only a newspaper man.
Would intellect shine like a diamond
If newspapers never had been?
I’m proud of my rank and my station
As a monarch is proud of his throne.
I’ve kindred in every nation,
And brethren in every zone.
The high, the rich, and the haughty—
Deny it today if you can —
Will fawn for the sake of a “notice”
At the feet of a newspaper man.
I wonder sometimes in my sanctum
When alone with the work of the day.
If we have the right to that haven
Beautiful, bright, far away.
Will the angels who stand at the portals,
To welcome whoever they can
Turn aside when they see me and whisper,
“He’s only a newspaper man?”
Bill Wundram can be contacted at (563) 383-2249 or bwundram@qctimes.com.
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