Erring In Company

"If I have erred, I err in company with Abraham Lincoln."
- Theodore Roosevelt.
  
If e'er my rhyming be at fault,
If e'er I chance to scribble dope,
If that my metre ever halt,
I err in company with Pope.
  
An that my grammar go awry,
An that my English be askew,
Sooth, I can prove an alibi -
The Bard of Avon did it too.
  
If often toward the bottled grape
My errant fancy fondly turns,
Remember, leering jackanape,
I err in company with Burns.
  
If now and then I sigh "Mine own!"
Unto another's wedded wife,
Remember, I am not alone -
Hast ever read Lord Byron's Life?
  
If frequently I fret and fume,
And absolutely will not smile,
I err in company with Hume,
Old Socrates and T. Carlyle.
  
If e'er I fail in etiquette,
And foozle on The Proper Stuff
Regarding manners, don't forget
A. Tennyson's were pretty tough.
  
Eke if I err upon the side
Of talking overmuch of Me,
I err, it cannot be denied,
In most illustrious company.
  
Franklin P. Adams.