Essay: Hope Sprouts Eternal

"Hope" is the thing with feathers--

That perches in the soul--

And sings the tune without the words--

And never stops--at all--

--Emily Dickinson

There are usually two crude drawings, side by side. Mr. Before, the bald- headed man on the left, stares glumly into a future of rejection, loneliness and despair. No bright-eyed new friends for him. Mr. After, who has doused himself with Yuppiegoo, now sprouts a coiffure worthy of Mick Jagger, and he smiles toward a future of romance and success. Dom Perignon in the Bahamas, white tie. Yours for only $1.98, or some such, say those little...

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