[
  {
    "title": "A Sea Dirge",
    "author": "Lewis Carroll",
    "lines": [
      "There are certain things--as, a spider, a ghost,",
      "  The income-tax, gout, an umbrella for three--",
      "That I hate, but the thing that I hate the most",
      "     Is a thing they call the Sea.",
      "",
      "Pour some salt water over the floor--",
      "  Ugly I'm sure you'll allow it to be:",
      "Suppose it extended a mile or more,",
      "     That's very like the Sea.",
      "",
      "Beat a dog till it howls outright--",
      "  Cruel, but all very well for a spree:",
      "Suppose that he did so day and night,",
      "     That would be like the Sea.",
      "",
      "I had a vision of nursery-maids;",
      "  Tens of thousands passed by me--",
      "All leading children with wooden spades,",
      "     And this was by the Sea.",
      "",
      "Who invented those spades of wood?",
      "  Who was it cut them out of the tree?",
      "None, I think, but an idiot could--",
      "     Or one that loved the Sea.",
      "",
      "It is pleasant and dreamy, no doubt, to float",
      "  With \"thoughts as boundless, and souls as free\":",
      "But, suppose you are very unwell in the boat,",
      "     How do you like the Sea?",
      "",
      "There is an insect that people avoid",
      "  (Whence is derived the verb \"to flee\").",
      "Where have you been by it most annoyed?",
      "     In lodgings by the Sea.",
      "",
      "If you like your coffee with sand for dregs,",
      "  A decided hint of salt in your tea,",
      "And a fishy taste in the very eggs--",
      "     By all means choose the Sea.",
      "",
      "And if, with these dainties to drink and eat,",
      "  You prefer not a vestige of grass or tree,",
      "And a chronic state of wet in your feet,",
      "     Then--I recommend the Sea.",
      "",
      "For I have friends who dwell by the coast--",
      "  Pleasant friends they are to me!",
      "It is when I am with them I wonder most",
      "     That anyone likes the Sea.",
      "",
      "They take me a walk: though tired and stiff,",
      "  To climb the heights I madly agree;",
      "And, after a tumble or so from the cliff,",
      "     They kindly suggest the Sea.",
      "",
      "I try the rocks, and I think it cool",
      "  That they laugh with such an excess of glee,",
      "As I heavily slip into every pool",
      "     That skirts the cold cold Sea."
    ],
    "linecount": "48"
  }
]