Albert Schirding

Jonas Keene thought his lot a hard one
Because his children were all failures.
But I know of a fate more trying than that:
It is to be a failure while your children are successes.
For I raised a brood of eagles
Who flew away at last, leaving me
A crow on the abandoned bough.
Then, with the ambition to prefix Honorable to my name,
And thus to win my children's admiration,
I ran for County Superintendent of Schools,
Spending my accumulations to win--and lost.
That fall my daughter received first prize in Paris
For her picture, entitled, "The Old Mill"--
(It was of the water mill before Henry Wilkin put in steam.)
Teh feeling that I was not worthy of her finished me.

Questions for Alber Schirding:

1. What was Schirding's problem?
2. Keene's problem?
3. Note the irony in the two sketches.
4. Answer the question that Keene asks of Schirding.
5. How did Keene die?